United Way of Lake County Distributes nearly 14,000 lbs. of Food Today to 48 Local Food Pantries
October 1, 2018 – Mentor, OH – United Way of Lake County (UWLC) distributed 13,822 pounds of food today to 48 Lake County food pantries. The food was purchased from funds donated during their annual spring Feed Lake County Food Drive and Fundraiser.
A total of 1 in 8 Lake County residents live with food insecurity. Inquiries for food rank number one among all inquiries received at Lifeline’s 2-1-1 help hotline. In 2017, there were 9,341 inquiries for food assistance.
According to Bebe Sajovec, food pantry volunteer from St. Gabriel Church in Mentor, “The number of families we serve has jumped to 650-700 per month this year, a large increase from the 400 families we served just a year and a half ago.”
Food distributed today included pasta, pasta sauce, peanut butter and jelly, canned tuna, green beans, peas, corn, kidney beans, apple sauce, whole grain cereal, pancake mix, syrup and apple juice.
Volunteers from Lake-Geauga Recovery Centers’ Lake House were on hand to help load food into the cars and trucks of each food pantry from UWLC’s office at 9285 Progress Parkway in Mentor.
Last year, UWLC provided local food banks with enough food for nearly 205,000 meals to help feed Lake County’s hungry. They also helped provide over 28,000 congregate meals to help feed Lake County seniors and formula was provided for 284 babies from low-income households.
UWLC will distribute additional food during the second week of December in time for the holidays.
“We depend on the generosity of Lake County’s residents to help feed our community’s hungry. Every dollar donated is enough to provide 20 meals, which means a $15 donation will help us provide 60 meals to those suffering,” said Tami Lewis, UWLC’s Director of Marketing and Communications.
Anyone interested in contributing can visit uwlc.org/give to help.