Dear Stakeholder:
I hope this letter finds you well. Spring is here and as vaccinations become available we are beginning to see hope that we will come out of pandemic living and return to some semblance of normal. ELEVATE is meeting in person again and we are as excited to see the students as they are to see us.
Our summer programming will start in June and we are offering services in Sylvania for the first time—more to come later on that exciting development.
I wanted to let you know that we received $40,000 from the Lucas County Commissioners to provide meals to children and adults in Lucas County.
We thank the Commissioners for recognizing that hunger remains an issue in this County and for providing funds to help alleviate the problem.
As you know, we take a holistic, family-centered approach at our social enterprise. You cannot move individual family members to self-sufficiency, you have to move entire families.
And families don’t move ahead when there is food insecurity.
Feeding America recognizes Ohio’s serious food insecurity problem, ranking us as the 10th worst in the country. They also noted in a March 9 report that their data shows that communities with rampant food insecurity experienced even greater struggles during Coronavirus.
We know that funds invested in addressing food insecurity show a return on investment. The study we commissioned from Measurement Resources Inc. last year showed the following results from our feeding program:
- Saves households nearly $100 in one week.
- Provides nearly 70% of a family’s needed meals a week.
- Provides 975% return on investment to the community.
Again, thank you to the Lucas County Commissioners for taking steps to help fight food insecurity. Thank you for your interest and support of the Center of Hope.
Sincerely
TLP, PHD
