Take action this month to fight hunger in the Mahoning Valley

One sure-fire sign that the pace of economic recovery in the Mahoning Valley continues to crawl along at an anguishing slow pace can be seen in the widening scope and changing faces of hunger.

According to the Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley, the region’s leading hunger-relief organization:

In 2013, the Food Bank’s member agencies fulfilled 15,000 requests for emergency food assistance every week.

More than 39,000 children in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties live at or below federal poverty guidelines.

Fifty-three percent of children in the Valley are eligible for free and reduced-price school meals.

Many factors explain that dismal data. Ongoing unemployment, underemployment, low wages coupled with escalating costs of utilities, gasoline and food have forced many individuals and families who were once proudly self-supporting to urgently seek assistance to put food on their tables.

Second Harvest and its 153 member agencies in the Valley remain stuck in overdrive to adequately respond to the needs. Throughout September, the food bank focuses on restocking supplies, refilling its shelves and replenishing its treasury in a nationwide campaign known as Hunger Action Month.

We join Second Harvest in urging residents throughout the Valley to actively support Hunger Action Month. They can visibly show their support by wearing orange, the color of the campaign that also is known as a stimulant to hunger. More importantly, they can recommit themselves to making a concrete impact toward easing the pangs of hunger in our neighborhoods.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

There are many ways to to do so. Caring residents can organize a food drive, make a monetary donation to the SHFB or volunteer their time and effort at the organization’s sprawling warehouse and distribution site on Salt Springs Road in Youngstown.

On its website, Second Harvest of the Mahoning Valley includes 30 ways to respond over the 30 days of this month. For example, residents today are urged to fill a shopping bag full with nonperishable food items — peanut butter, cereal, canned vegetables, canned fruit, tuna fish, dry pasta and canned soup are in greatest demand — to deliver to a food drive.

Sunday’s tip suggests we forgo upscale coffee-shop java and substitute cheaper home brewed coffee. Then use the savings to contribute to Second Harvest. On Monday, Second Harvest suggests voting in an online campaign for it to win a chance at a $60,000 grant.

Many will recall that two years ago, the Valley came out No. 1 in the nation in a similar online drive that netted $1 million for hunger relief.

Time and again, the Valley has galvanized its can-do spirit to help the needy all around us. This year’s call to action will require more than an online clicking frenzy, but we’re confident that given the compelling and growing need for hunger assistance, our Valley once again will display its benevolent and humanitarian character and answer the call to action. Midway through the month, the campaign already has logged significant successes. The life-changing good works of Second Harvest throughout all 12 months of the year make it a charity for which all should seriously consider opening their cupboards, wallets and hearts to help.