Single fathers now most served at food pantry, worker says at 25th Harvest for Hunger

YOUNGSTOWN

In the last 16 years, Lillie Ekong has seen certain trends change regarding those she serves, but one thing that has remained constant has been a continuing need for certain basic necessities.

“It used to be the elderly, but now it’s more single fathers,” the Youngstown woman noted, referring to those who most regularly visit the Victory Lutheran Community food pantry that she’s helped run since 2000.

Such demographics that tend to play out each month at the pantry, which is at the South Side church, partly reflect the larger picture of hunger in the Mahoning Valley, Ekong said during Wednesday’s 25th annual Harvest for Hunger kickoff at Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley, 2805 Salt Springs Road, on the West Side.

She was among a few hundred service providers, volunteers and others who attended the one-hour program to usher in the campaign, which gets underway next month.

Harvest for Hunger is a food-and-funds drive that occurs in March and April to help fill food-bank shelves for spring and summer, when donations tend to decrease. The campaign takes place in 21 Northeast Ohio counties, including Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana.

Sponsoring the effort are The Vindicator; Giant Eagle; Cumulus Broadcasting LLC; 21 WFMJ-TV, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner; and cable channel WBCB.

Many people the Victory Lutheran food pantry serves receive government subsidies, while others have minimum-wage jobs that don’t bring in enough for them to pay their bills and for food, noted Leotha Arnold, who also helps run the pantry.

Read more about the drive and those it serves in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.