The Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank is kicking off its 28th annual Harvest for Hunger Campaign on Monday, and officials with the Greater Dover-New Philadelphia Food Pantry are encouraging Tuscarawas County residents to support it.
"They're the principal reason that we can do down here what we're doing," said Jack Ream, past chairman of the food pantry's board.
"We are really subsidized by the food bank," added Mike Finley, current chairman of the pantry.
The Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank supplies food to Tuscarawas County's three pantries — the Greater Dover-New Philadelphia Food Pantry, Journey's End Ministries in Newcomerstown and the Twin City Christian Service Center in Uhrichsville.
The pantries in Dover and Newcomerstown are the two largest in the region.
The Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank feeds about 263,000 people every year through a network of programs in eight counties adjacent to Summit County.
It secures food donations from corporate food donors, state and federal food assistance programs and Feeding America, the national food bank network. Food is also obtained through a purchase program where large quantities of food are purchased at reduced prices.
The food bank's operational cost is between 30 cents and 40 cents per pound of food distributed. The Dover-New Philadelphia pantry pays between 3.5 cents and 6 cents per pound for all food purchased from the food bank.
"Therefore, food bank fundraising campaigns actually subsidize our local pantry food cost by the difference, or by nearly 87 percent," food pantry officials said in a statement. "The Harvest for Hunger fundraising helps pay for some of this subsidy."
Each year, the Dover-New Philadelphia pantry distributes 2.5 million pounds of food, or about 50,000 pounds per week. It provides food to about 650 families each week. Of that number, nearly 40 percent are from Stark County, which does not have large food pantries like Tuscarawas County does.
Ream credits the system with ending hunger in Tuscarawas County.
The Harvest for Hunger Campaign is a week-long event.
"All the money they collect from this event is to be used to purchase free food for the food pantries and homeless shelters and food service organizations," Finley said. "That keeps our costs down. We get 20,000 to 30,000 pounds of free food every other week from the food bank, like clockwork. That keeps our costs down."
Reach Jon at 330-364-8415 or at jon.baker@timesreporter.com.
On Twitter: @jbakerTR
