TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – About one in five children and one in seven adults in the Toledo area experience food insecurity. That means they do not have access to enough food or enough healthy food to meet their basic needs.
Many of those on the frontlines of the effort to help feed people say it is a growing problem in our community.
According to Connecting Kids to Meals, 28% of Lucas County residents experience hunger and 40% of children in the county live in poverty.
And while there is an army of people and agencies working to change that, many of them say it is an uphill battle right now.
“The supply of food is way down, donations are way down and the need is growing,” Mindy Rapp, the executive director of the Seagate Food Bank, said. “I would love to work myself out of a job, that’s the goal, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.”
Seagate supplies food to about 300 partner agencies in nine Ohio counties. Ranging from senior centers to food pantries and soup kitchens.
“I feel the weight of the world is on my shoulders. People need food, that is my job and I don’t know what I’ll do. I am losing sleep, I am exhausted. I have a great staff and they are exhausted,” Rapp said.
Rapp said she is increasingly concerned about being able to help meet the needs in our community.
“There are a lot of people who never expected to be in that position with no food and it’s happening now,” Rapp said.
It is the same story at the Martin Luther King Kitchen, one of Seagate’s partner agencies.
“So with them cutting back, we’ve cut back also. We’re doing the best we can with what we get,” Havey Savage Jr., the executive director of the Martin Luther King Kitchen, said.
Savage Jr.’s father started the kitchen more than 50 years ago.
“He was motivated by seeing a guy eating out of the garbage can at our house and that motivated him to start a pantry and feeding,” Savage Jr. said.
Savage Jr. said the center has recently seen a double-digit decrease in donations.
“Right now, we have a great need, we are probably down about $10,000 a month,” Savage Jr. said.
And at the MLK Kitchen, they are seeing more seniors and children in need of help.
“I am very concerned, I don’t know when we’ll reach the bottom. We have some major issues in our country,” Savage Jr. said.
In addition to food, the MLK Kitchen also provides clothes, shoes and some furniture. If you would like to learn more about making a donation of time, money or food to either the MLK Kitchen or Seagate Food Bank, click the links.
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This article was published by WTVG on 2025-09-30 18:12:00
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