Avon, Avon Lake residents donate nearly 900 pounds of food on Wednesday

On Tuesday Avon/Avon Lake Community Resource Services posted a picture to its Facebook page, featuring a nearly bare food pantry shelf and a plea for more donations. The response from the community was immediate and almost overwhelming, CRS Executive Director Pam Ohradzansky said, as donations poured in on Wednesday. "Today's support was truly thrilling, the doorbell never stopped ringing," Ohradzansky said. "But (it was) not surprising, the community is always so generous." In less than 24 hours, Avon and Avon Lake residents had dropped off a total of 896 pounds of food at the organization's headquarters at 33479 Lake Road, Avon Lake. Ohradzansky said that although Resource Services offers a variety of programs, its year-round food pantry is its largest by far. The pantry distributes between 10,000 and 12,000 pounds of food each month to about 500 families across Avon and Avon Lake. Though just under 900 pounds may not be a massive dent in that total, Ohradzansky said that every bit is needed as individual donations mostly stock the CRS pantry. "A lot of our clients are working hard to make ends meet, and the fact they have access to our food pantry just really helps (them) stretch their dollars," Ohradzansky said. In addition to food, the pantry provides toiletries, cleaning supplies and paper goods. Service providers throughout the county have said that a rising need for food services that began during the COVID-19 pandemic has never tapered off, and has sometimes even increased. That is no less true in Avon and Avon Lake, Ohradzansky said, where high prices for renters can drive them to sacrifice other necessities. "Rent expenses are just going through the roof," she said. "When your rent goes up, you have less money to spend on food. The need has always been there, but it's sort of shifting what people are having to spend their money on." Ohradzansky said the food pantry has not seen a large increase in need very recently, and its increased need on Monday was driven more by a lull in donations often seen in the summer. "We do get a ton of support throughout the year, (but) summertime tends to be a little tough," she said. "There are a lot of food donations around the holidays, a lot of food drives at the beginning of the school year. And it's just tougher during the summer, especially when the kids are home from school and they're eating more at home." To help fill that gap in the summer — or whenever they may appear — Resource Services has been very successful in using social media to drive individual donations. "One time we were completely out of toilet paper, and we put a call out for toilet paper and people for the next three days were dropping off nothing but toilet paper," Ohradzansky said. "I have found that putting a photo out of an empty shelf is pretty powerful, and the 900 pounds of food we got today was really amazing." Because Community Resource Services serves only Avon and Avon Lake, Ohradzanksy said it makes it easier to interface with both clients and the general public and to bring in donations. "The reason that CRS is so well-supported is that local connection," she said. "People want to know that they are helping someone who could be in their kid's classroom or on their tee-ball team. Just truly neighbors in need." Avon and Avon Lake residents can pick up one large grocery bag from CRS every month as well as a smaller one every week. Contact the CRS at (440) 933-5639 or aalcrs@aalcrs.org to inquire about donating or participating in its food pantry program. The organization holds other programs throughout the year and is currently raising money to provide school supplies in its back-to-school drive. Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.