Second Harvest kicks off its Harvest for Hunger campaign

LORAIN — Second Harvest kicked off Tuesday its largest campaign of the year, Harvest for Hunger. The goal is to raise about $250,000 and get 1.25 million meals with donated funds and food until the end of campaign in April. Last year, it raised enough for 1.2 million meals. "Harvest for Hunger isn't just a campaign, it's a critical component of our work," Second Harvest President Julie Chase-Morefield said. "Through the food and funds raised for Harvest for Hunger, we restock food supplies for our 94 food pantries and 41 hot meal programs in our region." Companies across the region are doing events for the campaign. Panera Bread has a donation box up and participating locations are donating money with the purchase of a bread bowl. Giant Eagle and Meijer are doing cash-register donations. Giant Eagle also does several fundraisers for the campaign. Joe Castillo, a representative with Giant Eagle, said the company's goal is to raise $1.1 million for Harvest for Hunger. Elyria Schools is one of the beneficiaries of Second Harvest, and it hosts a mobile food pantry at two of its schools every month. Superintendent Ann Schloss said the district sees over 1,100 individual families come into the food and also a large senior citizen population. "One of the highlights of the food pantry in Elyria is just seeing the faces of those coming through and knowing they have loving, supportive helpers," Schloss said. "... What we've seen is families seeing us in a different way, not just every day educating their students, which we know can't happen without nutrition." Although Schloss didn't want to give all the details just yet, she said the school's food provider, Aramark, will soon provide dinner to every child in Elyria Schools. Dr. Rebecca Starck, president of Cleveland Clinic Avon Hospital, is the honorary chair for the year's campaign. She said she's seen in her own health care profession how mothers can't get the nutrition they need because they cannot afford. And when they have children, they cannot always afford to provide all the nutrition they need. "Health care and medical care really only accounts for maybe 20 percent of somebody's overall health and wellness," Starck said. "Those social determinants of health are really the major factors. And it starts with that unborn child who is not getting the right nutrition during pregnancy that can lead to obesity later in life. And not having access to healthy food impacts the brain power of our young children." Harvest for Hunger will officially begin on Saturday, Feb. 29. It's a collaborative effort with four food banks that cover 21 counties in Northeast Ohio. It ends April 11. Contact Laina Yost at (440) 329-7121 or lyost@chroniclet.com. Follow her on Twitter @MissLainaMae.