“I wanted our staff to do something outside of the arts to celebrate the holiday season; to give something back to the community in a different way,” said Tom Katzenmeyer, president of the Greater Columbus Arts Council of the staff’s recent volunteer experience at the Mid-Ohio Food Bank (MOF).  Instead of an annual holiday party, the Arts Council staff chose to spend a morning donating their time and a little elbow grease to help sort and package food to be delivered to those in need.  It was a unique and inspiring experience, and an opportunity to step outside of a daily immersion in the local arts to see what social service organizations are doing for the central Ohio area.  And little did we know, we’d find that MOF has been utilizing the power of the arts to further their mission to raise awareness about hunger.

Many people don’t realize the staggering impact food insecurity has in our area.  Thousands of people in central and eastern Ohio are facing hunger every day. Many are faced with difficult situations, having to choose between paying for housing, utilities or medical expenses and putting food on the table.

Knowing the facts—and the faces—behind hunger is crucial and understanding it better will help in finding solutions.  More than 248,000 individuals, including 86,975 children and 17,395 seniors receive emergency food each year through MOF within a 20-county service area.  These numbers represent a 28 percent increase since the findings reported in Hunger in America 2006.  In any given week, more than 40,000 people receive emergency food assistance from a food pantry, soup kitchen, or emergency shelter served by MOF.

MOF provides food to hundreds of thousands of our hungry neighbors each year by partnering with more than 550 emergency feeding sites across central and eastern Ohio. Since 1980, MOF has joined food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, senior centers, and after-school programs to make food accessible to those in our communities who are hungry. In 2013, MOF distributed 48.6 million pounds of food enabling its partner charities to provide more than 107,000 meals every day.  This incredible growth in distribution—compared to 18.7 million pounds in 1999—indicates the dire need to raise awareness and find even more resources for acquiring, storing and distributing food.  In 2009, the MOF moved to a new facility—one big enough to hold nearly four football fields—to accommodate the demand.

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