Coronavirus Emergency Relief Update 5/20/2020

Notes from families who we’ve helped and those who’ve given us help fuel the mission at Second Harvest throughout our response efforts. Read the comments from a mother who came through our Drive-Thru Mobile Pantry on Monday at the Lorain County Fairgrounds in Wellington:

I have gone through a couple of your drive-through distributions since hearing about your COVID-19 assistance ... here in Wellington, and a few weeks back in Lorain. And these boxes are so excellent! We can't get over the fresh produce. I was trying to figure out a way to use the cabbages from the box two weeks ago, and I ended up making homemade cabbage soup for the first time in my life (and I am 48 years old!), and my husband & daughter loved that so much that I made more!! Everything has been wonderful and top notch. The food has been great, and the national guards-men & -women along with the local police ... they've all been so friendly and helpful. Please be sure to thank them!! We are so pleased & impressed, that when these times pass and things get better, we look forward to donating and giving back ourselves.

By The Numbers:
From March 15 – April 30 the statistics have been astonishing.

The National Guard soldiers joined us on March 23 and through the end of April their contributions to Second Harvest have shown us what #TFWorkhorse really means. Through rain, snow and shine our thirty-five soldiers:

• Brought nutritious food to families at 29 mobile pantry distribution
• Packed almost 28,000 food pantry and senior boxes
• Packed & Shipped 1.3M LBS of food

In The Neighborhood:
Food pantries and hot meals programs continue to serve in the neighborhoods and are always ready to help, look them up in the Find Help Directory.

Drive-Thru Mobile Pantries:
Drive-Thru Mobile Pantries continue through the end of May. Wednesday we will be at Clearview Schools (Durling Middle School), Thursday at Oakwood Park with El Centro in Lorain and at Strobel Field in Sandusky with OHgo. For upcoming dates check the Upcoming Mobile Pantry Schedule.

Donations:
We remain grateful to all of the organizations, groups, companies and individuals stepping up to donate – you are making the difference for so many families! Over the 12-week period (3/15/20 – 6/6/20), our total increase in costs will exceed $1M and beyond that over the next year at least another $1M as we work to maintain the level of distribution.

Lend Us Your Talent:
A shout-out to Tim Fairweather, senior naturalist and park manager at the Lorain County Metro Park’s Sandy Ridge Reservation, who held the BIG SIT. Tim volunteered his time on a recent Saturday to view and hear as many migrating birds as possible. His friends, supporters and local bird-lovers donated funds to support his efforts and raised over $2,000, which will provide 10,000 meals to help feed families! Others have done online concerts, comedy routines and performances. You too can use your talents to create an event where you can you rally your family and friends to feed local families, e-mail Mindi Flynn for information.

Thank You:
So many people deserve our heartfelt thanks through all of this effort, but I want to take a moment to thank the team at Second Harvest. The team remains committed to the cause and in their belief in our collective work. So when the time came to scale up and do more than was ever asked of us before, and despite the challenges, they stepped into the unknown and made it happen.

Please reach out to myself or Kimberly Hazelgrove at (440) 444-0717 / email with questions.

Be well,

Julie