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Three Valley agencies to share $1M hunger grant
YOUNGSTOWN/WARREN
Three area nonprofit agencies, two based in Youngstown and one in Warren, will divide $1 million in grants as the result of the Youngstown-Warren area’s first-place finish in Walmart’s Fighting Hunger Together Facebook campaign.
The agencies designated to receive the money are Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley and Catholic Charities Regional Agency, both based in Youngstown, and Trumbull Mobile Meals in Warren, according to a Walmart spokesman.
Walmart has scheduled a press conference for 10 a.m. Tuesday at its Austintown Walmart Supercenter, 6001 Mahoning Ave., when it is expected to announce how it divided the money.
“We are very excited and happy the money is coming to the area,” said Nancy Voitus, executive director of the Catholic Charities Regional Agency of the Diocese of Youngstown.
Voitus said her agency provides home-delivered meals to seniors in the East Liverpool area and, with the additional funding, would look at ways of expanding that type of work and also expand education about healthy eating and fill gaps in service areas.
Catholic Charities, through its emergency- assistance program, helps people access food stamps and provides individuals food vouchers and referrals to food pantries.
Walmart asked Second Harvest Food Bank to apply for a capacity building grant for a specific amount of money, which was submitted Wednesday, said Michael Iberis, executive director.
In its grant, Second Harvest asked for a large walk-in cooler/freezer, a 24-foot refrigerated box truck, two tow motors and three electric pallet jacks, all of which would increase efficiency at its warehouse and in picking up food donations. Another component of the grant application is implementation of a nutrition-education program, he said.
No one was available at Trumbull Mobile Meals, 323 E. Market St., to comment on being a recipient or how the agency would use the grant money it receives.
The Youngstown- Warren area was eligible to win the $1 million in grants because it was one of the 200 communities with the highest rate of unemployment in the United States as ranked by a February 2012 U.S. Department of Labor study. It beat out the other 199 communities, getting more than 98,000 online votes.