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Donations even more crucial for food banks

Ohio families feeling the pinch from inflation (and perhaps from kids being back at home for all their meals during the summer) know it isn’t getting any easier to feed families these days. But for too many, that pinch carries a greater sting, particularly as pandemic-era funding and assistance has run out as well.

According to a report by the Ohio Capital Journal, an Ohio Association of Foodbanks study showed nearly 2 of every 3 Ohio households studied had adults who have “cut the size of meals or skipped meals because there wasn’t enough money for food” in the last year, with 1 in 3 doing so almost monthly. Foodbank clients who participated in the study said they’ve had to make difficult choice — 68% said they had to choose between paying for food and paying for transportation or gas; 66% had to choose between food and utilities payments and an astounding 55% said they had to choose between food and medicine/health care. Approximately half of foodbank clients said they had to sacrifice either food or housing to make ends meets.

Without the COVID-19 assistance that expanded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, only 5% of those who participate in SNAP say their benefits last a full month.

“No Ohioans should have to choose between a meal and medicine they need, but that’s the reality many of our neighbors are dealing with too often right now,” Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the OAF, told the Capital Journal.

So, while the OAF is asking Congress to use the 2023 Farm Bill to include “critical anti-hunger programs,” such as setting SNAP benefit standards at what the group refers to as an “adequate level,” families need help now.

It’s a tough ask, when inflation is hitting every household, but families, businesses and civic organizations can make a difference by donating funds or food and necessities to our local food banks. It won’t fill the gaps to the degree an act of Congress might manage, but it will make a difference. If we can do even that, we must.

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