$355K awarded to Hunger Alliance partners

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Partner agencies in the Delaware County Hunger Alliance have been awarded more than $350,000 to continue the fight against hunger in the county.

The United Way of Delaware County, in partnership with the Delaware General Health District, has awarded $355,600 to the team, marking the first time United Way funding has been awarded to a collaborative partnership, rather than individual agencies, according to health district officials.

At 9 a.m. Friday, a team made up of eight different Delaware County Hunger Alliance partners will sign their letter of commitment at SourcePoint, 800 Cheshire Road.

The alliance agencies, along with United Way volunteers, met on several occasions to decide how to distribute the pool of funds and came up with the following plan:

• SourcePoint will receive $102,000 for meal delivery to residents ages 18-59 with physical, developmental and mental disabilities. SourcePoint, in partnership with the Second Ward Community Initiative, will also receive an additional $4,500 to add plumbing to a new congregate dining site for residents age 60 and older.

• People In Need Inc. of Delaware County will receive $60,000 to support pantry operations and increase the availability of fresh produce available to the community. People In Need will also use $20,000 to convert its food pantry from a pre-packed model pantry to a client choice pantry.

• Lutheran Social Services of Central Ohio will receive $110,000 to provide food to 1,100 Delaware County families a month, including those at mobile food pantries in Sunbury and Ashley. Lutheran Social Services will also receive $13,000 for the creation of mobile distribution pantries in Ostrander and areas south of Sunbury.

• Ohio Wesleyan University’s Department of Health and Human Kinetics will receive $12,600 to continue the “Cooking Matters” classes for residents who want to learn how to prepare the fresh produce they receive from local pantries. Participants receive a meal at each class session, a recipe book and groceries to prepare the meal at home.

• Salvation Army of Central Ohio will receive $10,000 to increase hours for their walk-in pantry along with emergency meals and take-home boxes for an increasing number of human trafficking victims.

• Delaware City Vineyard/FEED Delaware will receive $10,000 for kitchen plumbing and electricity in order to hold Cooking Matters classes and feed about 75-130 families through pantry services and community meals.

• Andrews House’s summer lunch program will receive $5,500 to provide 110 weekend backpack meals to kids over a 10-week period along with $5,000 to provide food for adults that accompany kids to the Woodward Family Resource Center summer lunch program.

• William Street United Methodist Church will receive $3,000 for 20 backpack meals per week for the entire school year at Woodward elementary school along with a monthly free community meal.

Each member agency of the Hunger Alliance also has agreed to a common set of goals and measurements as outlined by the “food insecurity” portion of the 2014-2018 Community Health Improvement Plan, health district officials said. This will allow for a collective set of data from all partners, which will provide for the first time a way to track progress and impact in the community.

The member agencies of the Delaware County Hunger Alliance include United Way of Delaware County, Delaware County General Health District, People In Need, The Salvation Army, FEED Delaware, Woodward Family Resource Center, Andrews House, Ohio Wesleyan University, Common Ground Free Store, Helpline, Mid-Ohio Food Bank, Lutheran Social Services, SourcePoint, Highpoint Community Outreach, The Open Table, William Street Methodist Church and the Delaware County Foundation.

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