Food bank sees more volunteers

It’s been roughly one month since the Ohio National Guard was pulled from assisting in food distributions with the West Ohio Food Bank, something they had been doing since March 2020. The decision was made as the pandemic appeared to ease up and vaccinations became available.

But the loss of the guard hasn’t stopped Tommie Harner, CEO of the West Ohio Food Bank, or her food distributions.

“We’ve continued our distributions,” she said. “We’re just having to reach out and try to get volunteers going forward.”

Without the Guard, additional bodies are lost and a void created. Harner said with the Guard she had between 30 to 50 extra people helping.

“Now that we don’t have them, there are times that some of our staff may need to go out, which takes time away from the jobs that they’re doing inside of the organization,” she said.

But they’re adapting and more volunteers are helping in the distributions. The organization hired Steven Rakes, a member of the Guard who now serves as distribution coordinator.

“He knows that process that’s been going on for the past year and he’s able to coordinate those efforts and continue to help with recruiting those volunteers,” she said.

With more people being vaccinated there has been a slight decrease in demand for help.

“Right now, it’s kind of leveled-out a little bit,” she said.

But with families who received Pandemic-Electronic Benefit Transfer credits and eviction moratoriums set to end at the end of the month, she wouldn’t be surprised to see an increase in demand in the future, especially around the holiday season.

“During the holiday times and the winter months, we always see an increase, even without a pandemic,” she said.

Since starting the distributions with the Guard last March, Harner said she’s learned new people are still turning up to them.

“We did a distribution in Shelby County earlier in the week, and out of [roughly 146] families that were served that evening, over 60 of them were new to the system,” she said. “There’s still new families that we’re seeing.”

Another new concept for her is the need among the senior community, especially among grandparents with fixed incomes and whose children and grandchildren are moving back in.

“I knew it was a larger need, but it has definitely opened our eyes to the bigger need than what we anticipated there was,” she said.

The next local distribution is set for 10 a.m. to noon, July 30, at the Auglaize County Fairgrounds (1001 Fairview Drive, Wapakoneta). Home distributions are also available to individuals who can’t make it to regular ones or are in quarantine.

Harner said the reason the location was switched was because the event had become more and more popular.

Anyone interested in volunteering can contact West Ohio Food Bank at 419-2227946.