The Greater Cleveland Food Bank has seen an increase in demand over the last few days after severe Northeast Ohio storms left many without power for days.
The Community Resource Center, the food bank’s food market, has especially seen higher numbers of people served over the past five to seven days, said Karen Pozna, the food bank’s director of communications.
Even though demand has grown significantly, the food bank’s supply has been able to keep up, in part after the First Energy Foundation pledged $100,000 to the GCFB this past weekend in response to the numerous power outages.
First Energy is the electrical utility for much of Northeast Ohio. Nearly 500,000 of their customers were affected by Tuesday's storm.
This donation was supposed to allow the food bank to provide more shelf-stable food to people who lost power and could not refrigerate their food, according to the food bank.
The GCFB announced on Friday it was able to provide nearly 1,000 shelf-stable meals to families in need after the storm.
The food bank also announced that it planned to continue these efforts, stating it would source more shelf-stable food for those without power this week.
While supply is currently keeping up with the abnormally high demand, the food bank said it is still asking donors for additional financial support, as there are many added stresses to get more food out quickly.
To all those whose food access has been affected by the recent power outages, Pozna recommends calling the food bank's help center, 216-738-2067, which can direct people to the nearest hot food or resource centers.
A map of GCFB resources is available here.
Anyone with food purchased with SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps, that was lost during the storm because of a power outage longer than four hours can apply for replacement benefits via the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Service’s website.
