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With $1M prize, Mahoning Valley pantries make room for more produce
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Michael Iberis, executive director of Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley, flashes a million-dollar smile as he stands in the food bank’s warehouse at 2805 Salt Springs Road, Youngstown.
YOUNGSTOWN
There will be many thousands of pounds of additional fresh fruits and vegetables on the menu of Mahoning Valley food pantries and kitchens because the tri-county area won $1 million in grants from the Walmart Foundation.
Though the Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley, which supplies commodities to most of the food- distribution organizations in Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties, has not been contacted by Walmart after casting the most Facebook votes, the food bank is making plans to spend its share of the grant money on surplus from Ohio farms.
“It is good news to have that kind of money. It will enable Second Harvest to purchase much more food, especially Ohio farm produce,” said Richard Stevens, vice president of the Second Harvest board of directors and vice president of First National Bank.
Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties, known for the Walmart Foundation’s Fighting Hunger Together Facebook campaign as the Youngstown-Warren Area, received 98,690 votes to win the top prize of $1 million in grants. The unofficial final results were posted at midnight Monday, when voting ended.
In second and third place, winning $50,000 each, are Johnson City, Tenn., with 66,367 votes, and Fresno, Calif., with 27,929 votes.
The Walmart development team will validate the votes to confirm the Leader Board results. Also, the team will determine which organizations, based on their community impact in fighting hunger, will receive the money. Grant recipients will be announced May 15, said Kelly Cheeseman, Walmart corporate spokeswoman.
“This excellent news — we’re really excited about it,” said Betty Crafter-Royal, coordinator of the food pantry and kitchen at Price Memorial AME Zion Church at 920 Dryden Ave. in Youngstown.
Crafter-Royal said the food pantry and kitchen receives food from donations and through Second Harvest.
She doesn’t just distribute fresh fruit and vegetables, she also shows clients how to can, cook and preserve them for healthier eating and living, she said.
Second Harvest sees its mission expanding to health-related problems, such as obesity, and the grants will help in that effort, said Michael Iberis, food-bank executive director.
“The statistics are grim. Roughly one in six U.S. children are obese, and at last count nearly one in three are overweight, putting them at increased risk of health problems, ranging from diabetes to being bullied at school,” Iberis said.
Obesity generally has been a bigger problem among children from low-income families because less-nutritious food with empty calories is more affordable than healthier foods, he said.
“That is the reason we are focusing our attention on more fruits and vegetables in order to attempt to curb these problems,” Iberis said.
Stevens said while it is not known how Walmart will divvy up the money, winning the $1 million grant is great news for the community.
“Organizing and voting to win the Walmart anti-hunger event speaks to character and giving nature of the people of the Mahoning Valley. It’s a great place to live and work because of that,” Stevens said.