CINCINNATI, Ohio — The city’s Evanston neighborhood took a local approach to tackle food insecurity in the wake of the economic impact of COVID-19.
Thursday, the Evanston Community Council hosted its second pop-up food pantry of the summer outside its recreation center.
Organizers said the pantry started as a way to serve those hardest hit by the pandemic, but anyone is welcome.
The council’s first pantry took place in June and served more than two 2,000 people. Belinda Sewell was one of the volunteers and she said she wanted to help out again because she felt the first pantry made much an impact.
“I love it because I am a resident of the Evanston community and I know the need for the pantry,” she said.
Sewell spent much of the day spreading the word and holding up a sign to attract people to the pantry. By the end of its run though, she too wanted to make sure she took something extra back to those who couldn’t stop by.
“I picked up one for a neighbor and then I picked up one for a senior citizen,” she said. “Then I picked up one for two young people. One lost her job.”
Each box feeds roughly two people for a week. The pantry gave away nearly 800 boxes.
Daphanie Chandler said she stopped by to pick up resources for some of her clients.
“They’re struggling right now due to the pandemic not working and just needed some extra help,” she said.
Chandler said food insecurity has only gotten worse since the pandemic and hasn’t improved much even as more and more businesses reopen.
She said some people lack transportation or have health concerns that would prevent them from coming out to pantries like this one, but others just need to know where they can find help.
“I actually referred a few clients here that will be coming up today as well,” Chandler said.
While these services are available in other parts of Cincinnati, volunteers like Charles Dudley said the most important part of the Evanston pop-up pantry is how local it is.
“I think so many times we have to leave the neighborhood to go get access to things but to have it in our own neighborhood,” he said. “I think that’s a blessing.”
Organizers said offering a pantry in the neighborhood and letting it be run by people who live there not only makes it easier to physically access, but it’s also easier to get the information to the people who need it most.
Dudley said food isn’t the only thing Evanston’s leaders can offer the neighborhood but he hopes meeting people at Thursday’s pantry and building relationships can open the door to future service.
“This is just a start… but hopefully we can start here and hopefully continue forward with other programs to help our community out,” he said.
The next Evanston pop-up pantry will at the recreation center on August 6 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
