MANSFIELD – Food pantries are designed to make lives easier. Scanning the sparse-at-times shelves of HOPE Food Pantry, however, the pantry itself doesn’t have it easy.
So, the sponsors of last weekend’s Coney Fest at Richland Carrousel Park – Richland Source, Coney Island Diner, Richland Academy of the Arts, Carrousel Properties and others – came in to help, with a $2,000 check.
“If you bring food, it’s always good,” said Ian Chambers, HOPE’s pantry specialist. “Money is sometimes better because you can get more from the (Cleveland Food Bank) with that.”
HOPE Food Pantry is a Catholic Charities project located at 523 Park Ave. East. It is funded through donations and utilizes volunteer services to keep its pantry stocked and organized.
It needs help, too.
HOPE Food Pantry has aided 6,752 households and 19,140 people in total over the past year. It’s seen consistent upticks over the past three months, as well, going from 561 households in June, to 590 in July, then 606 in August.
“We expect to see a continued rise in people,” Chambers said. “It’s been slowly rising each month for the past few months, and I expect it to continue because a lot of SNAP changes just went into effect, and a lot of people are losing those benefits.
“Luckily, Richland County is very resource-rich. I always tell people there are (15 primary) pantries throughout the county, so there’s no reason to go hungry.”
The check came through Coney Fest, held at Richland Carrousel Park on Friday. The event highlighted the anniversaries of several sponsors, who helped make the $2,000 donation to HOPE Food Pantry possible. It was the 35th anniversary for Richland Carrousel Park and the Richland Academy of the Arts, as well as the 90th anniversary for Coney Island Diner.
Participating vendors at Coney Fest prepared coney dogs for attendees and a panel of judges to try. The two voting bodies picked their favorite, and a trophy was given to each winner. This year, the attendees voted for Tri-O’s Treats and judges awarded Back Porch Food Co.
“In March, we did a ‘Munch Madness’ bracket where people got to vote on their favorite pizzas,” Richland Source’s Bite Club author Shelbi Evans said. “We just did that for coneys … and we turned it into a big community tasting event.
“(The community) got to come out and vote, uplift local businesses, celebrate all of our great business partners and then we wanted to donate the proceeds … to benefit our local food pantry.”
