Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio will host a Celebrity Bagging event from 3-5 p.m. May 2 at Giant Eagle, 2201 Kresge Drive in Amherst, to keep momentum thriving for the Harvest for Hunger campaign.
Representatives from Second Harvest and partners involved in the campaign will bag groceries for customers in the checkout line to interact and help raise awareness for Harvest for Hunger, according to Julie Chase-Morefield, president and CEO of Second Harvest.
“It helps to create interest back in the campaign and tie it back to why it’s really important,” Chase-Morefield said. “It does help raise more dollars, and it does help raise awareness in the campaign.”
The celebrity baggers will include: Chase-Morefield; Vic Gregovits, president and partner of the Lake Erie Crushers, honorary chair for the 2025 Harvest for Hunger campaign; Stomper, mascot for the Lake Erie Crushers; Patty O’Brien, executive director of the Stocker Foundation; and Tiffany Tarpley, anchor at Channel 5 in Cleveland.
According to a news release, since the beginning of the Harvest for Hunger campaign in March, 13% of the Second Harvest food budget has been affected.
Chase-Morefield said two programs, the Local Food Purchasing Agreement and the Commodity Credit Corporation, recently were subject to federal funding cuts, which directly affects food distribution and the Second Harvest food budget.
The Local Food Purchasing Agreement allows small, emerging farmers who are not eligible for USDA grant programs to sell produce to places like Second Harvest, which made up 3 to 4 percent of food distributed last fiscal year, she said.
“That is ending at the end of June,” Chase-Morefield said. “We anticipated it was going to go for another year, but the funding was ended for June 30.”
A few months ago, Second Harvest placed a delivery order totaling 148,000 pounds of food, but it was canceled in March due to funding cuts to the USDA Commodity Credit Corporation, she said.
Orders have to be placed three to six months in advance, which is customary for food orders, Chase-Morefield said.
Labeled as a “significant loss,” she said the funding cuts affected the food budget by 13%, and included the loss of food items like produce and protein.
“This is why Harvest for Hunger is so critically important to us,” Chase-Morefield said. “It’s directly related; it goes right back into us being able to bring food in and make sure our community members have the food that they need.”
There are a number of ways for community members to get involved to help both the Harvest for Hunger campaign and Second Harvest like donating food or time or volunteer.
Second Harvest partners with a variety of food pantries in Lorain County, which always in need of help, Chase-Morefield said.
“We’re trying to create other programs and other ways to shore up resources to make sure we can provide those things to the community,” she said. “We are encouraging our Senators to continue to support the important work of food banks in Ohio to continue to provide food to families and seniors who so desperately need it.”
For more information, call Second Harvest Food Bank at 440-960-2265 or visit secondharvestfoodbank.org.
