Second Harvest gave out record 9.5 million pounds of food in Valley in 2014

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

alcorn@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

The working poor are the fastest-growing group of people in the tri-county area that helped make 2014 a food-distribution record breaker for Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley.

Last year, Second Harvest distributed 9.5 million pounds, the equivalent of more than 6.3 million meals, to people in Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties, said Michael Iberis, Second Harvest executive director.

It was the fourth consecutive year the area food bank distributed more than 9 million pounds of food to its network of 153 food agencies, increasing distribution by 368,000 pounds over the previous year.

“We are pleased with our efforts to meet the need, but saddened that the need is so great,” Iberis said.

The increased need among the working poor with limited ways to improve their financial situation is a result of the local and national economy lacking jobs that provide a decent living, he said.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.