Meals of Hope offers help
Trending
STEUBENVILLE -- Many area residents might not realize it, but 10,234 of the 62,206 residents of Jefferson County are living in poverty.
The Columbus-based Mid-Ohio Food Collective also reports that 21,202 county residents are eligible for charitable food assistance.
That’s a concern that many area groups and organizations are working to mitigate, including the United Way of Jefferson County.
“It’s easy to be in your own little world, but there is a lot of need in this county,” Marci Crawford, executive director of the United Way, explained. “It can look like the area is in an uptick, but we still have issues with the prices of everything. There are a lot of people who are struggling.”
That’s one of the reasons the United Way is joining the Franciscan University of Steubenville, area sponsors and volunteers to hold this year’s Meals of Hope project.
Beginning at 10 a.m. on Dec. 8, those volunteers will converge on Christ the Teacher Academic Hall and Pope St. John Paul VI Conference Center on the university campus and pack meal kits that will be distributed to food pantries and other agencies throughout the county. Each kit will include dry ingredients that can be used to prepare food for between six and eight people, the Naples, Fla.-based charitable organization reports.
Last year, Crawford said, local volunteers packed 38,000 meals in about two hours. They hope to be able to prepare somewhere around 40,000 meals this year, packages that will spread to all parts of the county.
“It’s a nice big room, and everyone really enjoys it,” she said. “Everyone who came to help last year said they really enjoy the experience.”
Funding to purchase the supplies needed to put the meal kits together comes from a variety of sources, she explained, including $10,000 that was donated by the Woman’s Club of Steubenville when its members dissolved the longtime organization earlier this year. Sponsorships and volunteers are still needed, Crawford said.
“This is such a wonderful event,” said Joe Wallace, the executive director of community relations at the university. “Whether you sponsor meals or volunteer the day of, it just shows what can be accomplished when the community comes together. The more funding we can receive, the more we can help those in need in Jefferson County.”
After the meals have been completed, Crawford explained, a separate group will help distribute them to agencies and organizations around the county, from the WEBA Outreach Food Pantry to the Smithfield Friends Food Pantry, as well as the Urban Mission, the Friendship Room and the Sycamore Youth Center -- and other places.
The food collective, which partners with agencies like the Urban Mission in 20 counties in the central and eastern parts of the state, also reported that 70 percent of the families it serves include a child or a senior citizen, 32 percent of families served had one or more children under the age of 18 and 44 percent of families served included one of more persons 60 and older.
“This is what I say to people all of the time -- people are struggling,” Crawford said. “I feel that seniors need help, too. I know a lot of seniors who have come to me and they’re living on Social Security.
“I had a family talk to me where the husband and wife are living right now on $1,700 a month, and that doesn’t include what they have to pay for medical. And, you know, when you become a senior you are going to have medical bills. We’re trying to reach everyone that we can,” she added.
Volunteers will come from all walks of life and from all ages. Many of the United Way agencies will be on hand to help, as will school students. It’s a a good way to teach young people about the value of assisting in their community.
“Last week, I had the chance to talk with third-graders at Indian Creek,” Crawford said. “They’re doing their own little fundraiser with us. How do I explain what I do? I asked one little boy that if he needed help … and I asked a girl what her name was and then I told the boy that she said she would help him. Then I asked, would it be better if that one person helped you or if your whole class helped you?
“Then I said, if everybody helped you like that, how much better would your school be? That’s how our county is -- if you had multiple people instead of just one person, it can help a lot of people,” she said.
It’s a concept that Crawford, the United Way and supporters like Wallace and the university put to use throughout the year, and the reason local businesses and supporters turn out to help the organization, something that will on display on Dec. 8.
“That is something that I love about this, and the same with the United Way Day of Action,” Crawford said. “It really shows what can happen when the community comes together. That’s my biggest goal -- to show Jefferson County that when we come together to help people as a group, as a team, it can help so many people.”