Kiwanis Club spearheads local produce giveaway

COSHOCTON – Seniors and families collected free fresh produce, baked goods and iced tea last week at the Coshocton County Fairgrounds.

“I think it’s a nice thing to do to give people fresh vegetables that can’t always afford them,” said Frank Drews, of Coshocton, as he loaded his food into his car in the 90-degree midday heat.

Drews figures he spent about 15 minutes picking up fresh corn, carrots, lettuce, watermelon, potatoes and a gallon of tea.

“They get through there pretty quick,” he said. “The girls were very helpful.”

“The girls” were members of the Ridgewood High School soccer team who helped carry the groceries through the pickup line and out to people’s cars.

“It’s worth it, just to give back to the community, after everything they’ve done for us,” said Rachel Simpson, 14, a Ridgewood freshman from Newcomerstown. “They’d do it if it was us here.”

The day gave team members a break from conditioning and an opportunity to help people, coach Judd Bone said.

“It’s good that the community rallies around an event like this for people that need it,” Bone said.

Bone also serves on the board of the Coshocton Kiwanis Club, which co-sponsored the giveaway along with the Mid-Ohio Foodbank.

Based in Grove City, the nonprofit Mid-Ohio Foodbank serves 20 counties, including Coshocton, Knox, Licking and Muskingum, according to its website, midohiofoodbank.org. It partners with more than 650 agencies to distribute food to the needy in those counties.

The food bank gets its produce from farmers and grocery stores, said Marilyn Tomasi, vice president of marketing and communications. They provide surplus food that they cannot sell that might be blemished or nearing expiration but is still highly nutritious, she said.

Nationwide, about 1 in 4 children and 1 in 6 adults are “food-insecure,” she said, meaning they do not know where their next meal will come from. About 60 percent of the people served by food banks are the working poor. They are still unable to make ends meet despite working one, two or three jobs, she said, “because wages are still not at the level of prerecession.”

Mid-Ohio hopes to co-host 1,100 produce markets in its 20-county area this year, Tomasi said.

Locally, the Coshocton Kiwanis Club and its community helpers served 185 families at the produce market, said Mindy Fehrman, director of Coshocton County Job and Family Services and project coordinator for Kiwanis.

After the market, the group delivered leftover food to the Salvation Army, First Step domestic violence shelter and Kno-Ho-Co-Ashland Coshocton Senior Center for use there, Fehrman said.

Boys with the Coshocton County Juvenile Court’s Diversion Program helped carry in the produce, set up the market and hand out the groceries during the event, diversion officer Aimee Matusik said.

The free produce market, which targeted families within 200 percent of federal poverty guidelines, was the first for the Kiwanis Club, Fehrman said. Club leaders will meet to discuss future efforts, she said.

“It might be the start of something that could be done regularly in the community,” Kiwanis President Doug Speicher said. “It’s definitely needed.”

Kiwanis members also helped distribute and carry food during the market, and representatives of the Upper Room Assembly and Worship Center helped families sign in.

“I think it’s awesome that there are people out there who help and care,” said Malissa Merck, of Coshocton.

jwilliams6@gannett.com

740-295-3417

Twitter: @Joeadvocate

Food pantries in Coshocton County

Food for seniors

• What: Produce Day

• When: 1 p.m. the first Tuesday of the month

• Where: Kno-Ho-Co-Ashland Coshocton Senior Center, 201 Brown’s Lane, Coshocton

• Cost: Free; no application required; first-come, first-served on distribution day

• Eligibility: Age 60 and older, reside in Coshocton County, self-reported

• FYI: Call Jamie Williams or Christy Neighbor at 740-622-4852

• What: Commodity Supplemental Food Program for canned, boxed goods

• When: 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. the third Tuesday of the month

• Where: Senior Center, 201 Brown’s Lane, Coshocton

• Cost: Free, if eligibility is met

• Eligibility: Age 60 and older, reside in Coshocton County. Must apply; documentation needed; waiting list.

• FYI: Call Jamie Williams or Christy Neighbor at 740-622-4852.

• What: Frozen food

• When: 10:30 a.m. the third Tuesday of the month

• Where: Senior Center, 201 Brown’s Lane, Coshocton

• Cost: $2 donation suggested

• Eligibility: Age 60 and older, reside in Coshocton County, self-reported; no application required, first-come, first-served on distribution day

• FYI: Call Jamie Williams or Christy Neighbor at 740-622-4852.

• What: Mobile Market

• When: 2 to 3:30 p.m. second Wednesday every month

• Where: Senior Center, 201 Brown’s Lane, Coshocton

• Cost: Free, if eligibility met

• Eligibility: Age 60 and older, reside in Coshocton County, meets self-reported income levels. No application required, first-come, first-served on distribution day

• FYI: Call Jamie Williams or Christy Neighbor at 740-622-4852.

Food for families

• What: Food distribution: Canned and boxed goods, frozen foods

• When: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. the third Thursday of the month

• Where: New Life Ministries, 727 S. Seventh St., Coshocton

• Cost: Free

• Eligibility: Reside in Coshocton County, proof of residency, photo ID, birth certificate required

• FYI: Call Mark Granger at 740-622-2181.

• What: Food distribution

• Where: Salvation Army, 291 N. Fourth St., Coshocton

• Cost: Free

• What: Food distribution

• When: 5:30 p.m. the first and third Thursday of the month

• Where: Upper Room Assembly and Worship Center, Civic Hall, 331 Main St., Coshocton

• Cost: Free

• Eligibility: Below 200 percent of federal poverty guidelines

• FYI: Contact Pastor Stan Braxton or visit Facebook.com/theupperroomag.

• What: Produce market

• When: 10 a.m. Aug. 29 and Dec. 19

• Where: St. Andrew AME Church, 1245 S. Sixth St., Coshocton

• Cost: Free

• Eligibility: Below 200 percent of federal poverty level

• FYI: Contact the Rev. Doris Bowers.

• What: Mobile market

• When: 10 a.m. the first Wednesday of the month

• Where: Canal Lewisville United Methodist Church, 198 E. Church St., Canal Lewisville

• Cost: Free

• Eligibility: Below 200 percent of federal poverty level

• FYI: Contact Michelle Darner.

Sources: Coshocton County Hunger Resource Directory; Willa Hamersley, director of Coshocton County Women, Infants and Children Program; Mid-Ohio Foodbank

2015 federal poverty guidelines

*For families/households with more than eight people, add $4,160 for each additional person.

**For families/households with more than eight people, add $8,320 for each additional person.

Sources: Mindy Fehrman, director of Coshocton County Job and Family Services; the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, aspe.hhs.gov