Hungry to help: Community rallies for Cram-A-Cruiser

OBERLIN — Peanut butter jars and cereal boxes lined the dashboard of Patrolman Morgan Robinson's incredibly full police cruiser when he rolled up to the loading dock Tuesday morning at the Cooper Community Resource Center on East Lorain Street. As he opened the back door of his SUV, bags filled with soup, crackers, pasta, tuna, and canned vegetables nearly tumbled out. All were collected through the weekend in the Oberlin Police Department's inaugural Cram-A-Cruiser event to benefit the Oberlin Community Services food pantry. The fundraiser raked in enough food to literally cram Robinson's cruiser to the top, plus so much more that Rick Bailey of the city's General Maintenance Division was called to get another vehicle. In total, the event brought 1,132 pounds of food to the OCS pantry. "Our community is amazing," said Suzette Sanchez, food programs coordinator at OCS. "There are so many people in need this fall, especially through the federal shutdown, and we're grateful for every single donation." The OCS food pantry serves income-eligible families from all over Lorain County, plus food deserts just over the Erie and Huron county lines. Since Sept. 1, the nonprofit has gotten food to 1,390 families, including 286 that had never before gone to OCS for assistance. The usual flow of about 350 to 370 families each week has jumped to 400 to 450 families. The shutdown officially ended last Wednesday after a record-setting 43 days. SNAP is now fully funded through September 2026 and the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services immediately started putting partial benefits on SNAP EBT cards. It's unclear when full payments will be distributed, however. "This is welcome news, but we know the delay has created challenges for many families that will take time to overcome," Second Harvest Food Bank Executive Director Julie Chase-Morefield said in an email to supporters and partner nonprofits Monday. "SNAP is essential to keeping food on the table for millions of Ohioans and provides economic stability for retailers, farmers and more." The ripple effects of the shutdown are likely to be felt for months. Second Harvest, which gets about a quarter of its food from the federal government, was unable to place new orders with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during the shutdown. That's going to affect the volume of food available to food banks and pantries statewide after the holidays. In the meantime, food drives such as the Oberlin police Cram-A-Cruiser campaign are helping tremendously, Sanchez said. They've seen an outpouring of support at OCS, where Oberlin's Blue Rooster Bakery also delivered 75 cake kits on Tuesday. "I feel like everybody needs something sweet," said bakery co-owner Wendy Boes, unloading kits from her car. Each contained the dry mix, frosting, soda (which can replace oil and eggs) and pan needed to bake a cake. Help is coming to the food pantry from all directions: Oberlin Walmart and the Oberlin Schools have been holding OCS food drives for the holidays, while The Hope Collection donated 15 percent of its sales to the nonprofit on Nov. 5. Oberlin Cable Co-op Executive Director Jay Shrewsbury donated 207 half-gallon containers of milk on Nov. 11, and Avon Lake-based theater group Mighty Goliath Productions is among the many groups that has been collecting food and money to give. "Every donation makes a difference to local families who are struggling to get by," Sanchez said. "These are seniors on fixed incomes. These are small children. These are people with disabilities, and people who work, and people who can't work, and people from every kind of background. All deserve to eat and all deserve kindness."