Hundreds of Cleveland residents lined up outside the Collinwood Recreation Center on Wednesday afternoon for the city’s first in a recurring schedule of free produce pop-ups.
The pop-ups, created in partnership with the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, are in response to recently-ended Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefit boosts offered throughout the pandemic.
One in three Cleveland households are affected by the change, the city says.
“This is one way we can lessen the cliff from a pretty steep drop off,” said Mary McNamara, the city’s director for the Department of Aging.
Shielded from the rain beneath a tent, city employees and volunteers spent the afternoon diligently packing heads of broccoli, celery stalks and other fresh produce into bright orange tote bags with enough to serve 300 households. The line of cars wrapped around the community center’s parking lot and spilled into the street.
In addition to the drive-thru, SNAP recipients could also walk up to the front of the community center to collect their produce.
Among those was Anita Gray, a resident of the nearby Euclid Beach Villa, an affordable senior housing complex.
"I’m appreciating it because I love vegetables, and they have quite a few,” Gray said. “They have broccoli and celery and things of that nature, and I'm just so glad it's not canned food."
Tiffany Scruggs, the vice president for the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, said the goal is to help people stretch their dollars further as grocery prices climb, as well as combat health concerns like hypertension and diabetes.
"Produce is more expensive for community members to purchase, so that is why we have efforts to increase access to produce, but it's also just healthier,” she said.
The pop-ups will run at the Collinwood Recreation Center at 16300 Lakeshore Blvd. on the first Wednesday of each month from 3-6 p.m. Other locations include the Michael Zone Recreation Center at 6301 Lorain Ave. on the third Monday of each month at the same time, and at East 59th St. and Haltnorth Ave. on the second Friday of each month from 2-4 p.m.
Scruggs said they selected locations where SNAP recipients are highest concentrated in the city.
