Nine years ago, Doc Stumbo, a member of the Richland Area Chamber of Commerce, started a food drive named Make a Difference Food Drive at Graham Auto Mall on West Fourth Street. Over the years, thousands of food items have been dropped off in the spirit of making a difference in the lives of Richland County residents during the Thanksgiving holiday.
This year’s Make a Difference Food Drive marks its ninth year. According to Stumbo, last year the food drive received 24,000 food items, which were donated by Richland County residents through the span of two days. Stumbo said this year they are reaching for 25,000 donated food items.
The donated food will then be distributed to six different local food pantries and kitchens: Salvation Army, the Domestic Violence Shelter, Harmony House, Volunteers of America, the Clearfork Nutrition Center, and Catholic Charities.
“This helps feed families for Thanksgiving and the food usually lasts until then. Then we have another one for Christmas.,” said Stumbo.
Data from Feeding America shows that Ohio’s Child Food Insecurity Rate is 25.2 percent and Richland County’s is similar at 25.3 percent. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) says on their website that “food security means access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life.”
Feeding America’s data also reveals that Richland County has 19,960 people who are “food insecure,” and 7,040 children who are food insecure.
“We’re trying to do anything we can do, you know? People in Richland County are always good donators,” said Stumbo.
Annette Gandert, a Title 1 Reading Teacher from Sherman Elementary, brought a truckload of 922 food items to the food drive on Friday morning, October 24. She said Sherman Elementary runs a school-wide food drive at the beginning of each year. Students from the school’s Leadership Team helped to unload the truck.
“We’ve been collecting food since last month. Every day we bring a wagon around to each classroom to collect the day’s worth,” said Gandert. “The class with the most gets a pizza party, which they don’t know yet. But you know, for being needy kids themselves, it’s really great to see them give back to the community,” she added.
Many students in Richland County school districts are on free or reduced lunches through the National School Lunch Program. Both Mansfield City Schools and Shelby City Schools provide free or reduced lunches to over half of their student population.
RSVP Volunteer Larry Rush helped with transporting goods on Friday morning at Graham Auto Mall. “It’s a good thing when people get together to volunteer. I want to do anything that benefits the community,” he said.
The Make a Difference Food Drive will be accepting donations through Friday, October 24 and next week. To make a donation, bring your food items to Graham Auto Mall in Mansfield on 1515 West Fourth Street.
