Holiday Giving
When we think of hunger, we tend to think of the hungry as a faceless ‘them’. It’s not here, it’s someone in another country, or the homeless person we see with a sign on the side of the road. We certainly don’t think of our neighbors, or even family, as being hungry. But, the simple fact is that hunger is not ‘them’, it’s us.
In Northwestern Ohio, nearly 123,610 people struggle with food insecurity. That’s 1 in 6 Ohioans who will struggle with hunger this winter and won’t be able to meet their basic needs.
Recently, a mother with three young boys came in to one of our partner food pantries. She was in a wheelchair, from a recent car accident she had been involved in. This was the first time she had ever been in a food pantry and did not know where to start. The volunteer working in the counseling area realized that she may need a little more time than usual to help provide assistance and explain about the many community resources she could utilize. Our goal is to provide resources to clients so that we’re not just meeting their food needs, but also helping to resolve the reason they are experiencing hunger.
The stories that our clients tell are as unique as the people who tell them, but there are themes. One of the most common is that they never thought they would be at a food bank. Most clients at a food bank are people, just like you, who have fallen on hard times; through layoffs, loss of wages, medical bills, car accidents, and other challenges, their lives have been turned upside down.
They need the compassionate support of kind friends like you to help put nutritious food back on their tables.
The Toledo Northwestern Ohio Food Bank was able to provide 763,070 meals during 2017, but there are more people still facing hunger and heartache. That’s why we're asking for your continued support throughout the holiday season. Every day, thousands of people in Northwestern Ohio eat because of the food provided by Toledo Northwestern Ohio Food Bank and our generous donors.
Every $1 you donate provides 5 complete meals for a hungry neighbor or family!
Your generous gift will provide much needed food for senior citizens, struggling parents, single mothers working two jobs, veterans, and grandparents raising grandchildren.
Providing food is more than just giving clients enough to eat, it allows people to ensure that they don’t have to make impossible choices. The dilemmas faced by our clients are having to choose between paying for food and utilities, or between food and medical care or medicine, or even between food and their rent or mortgage.
Your donation today will help provide wholesome food for families and precious children who otherwise may go without.
Thank you for your generosity. Because of people like you, we are able to provide enough groceries for those who need our help. Plain and simple – we could not continue to work without you!
