At Freestore Foodbank, you can box up help for hungry people

Volunteering at The Freestore Foodbank goes quickly when you’re on a crew packing Senior Boxes. There’s no time to get bored because the line moves along. 

Someone tapes up a box, and then it travels along a long rolling belt, with people on both sides each adding cans of tuna or vegetables or soup, boxes of pasta or potatoes before it goes to the next person. Some people are busy restocking the supplies at each station, others are packing up the boxes at the end. There’s time to chat with your neighbor, and there’s music keeping things lively, but for 2½ hours, it just keeps going. 

Fighting hunger and food insecurity: the same. It just keeps going.

There are so many people pinched so tight on their budget that an extra source of food to get through the month is vital. They don’t need help every once in a while, they need it every day. The people who get the boxes I helped pack are seniors whose limited fixed income doesn’t keep up with inflation and has to cover medicine and copays as well as the usual expenses we all have. 

It wasn’t just the pace that made an impression on me. It was the size of this new Resource and Distribution Center just off River Road: 22,400 square feet, shelves of food to the ceiling, forklifts staying busy. It’s huge because it consolidated several other facilities, including two job training programs, and was built to meet future needs. It felt good to see how much food is stored here; it’s a stockpile of generosity. But how can the need be so great? And is it just going to keep growing? 

Somehow, with all the wealth and resources we have in this country, food insecurity and poverty are stubborn. There’s a wealth gap that is growing wider by the year. Wages haven’t increased to keep up with prices. Housing costs are high. Owning a car is out of reach for many. Unions have been busted. And so many people are laid low by medical catastrophes because they can’t afford health insurance. 

While we think we spend a lot of money on poverty programs, there are a lot of government subsidies to keep rich people rich rather than creating conditions for the not-rich to build a stable life. We tax wages, money that you earn by working hard, at a higher rate than capital gains income, money that your money earns, if you’ve got enough to invest. There’s essentially no inheritance tax, so lucky families get luckier, we give tax breaks for mortgages but not rent, and we have an inequitable system for funding education. Unless all that gets turned around, the gap will keep growing.

These are my talking points, not the Freestore Foodbank’s. They’re focused on dealing with what exists: people who need some help, not only with immediate nutrition but with possible ways out of needing it. They reach 20 counties in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. They supply 47 million meals annually through 611 community partners. They run training programs for restaurant work and for warehouse and logistics careers. There are nutrition and cooking classes, and they help people get resources to improve their lives at the Liberty Street Customer Connection Center.

And you can help them help. If your life is comfortable, you should certainly think about it, especially if you have time during the week. Say, you’re retired. There are also Saturday and Thursday evening volunteer shifts.

Packing boxes is pretty fun. Tawanda Rollins, the volunteer coordinator, has seen how rewarding it is to volunteer. “People feel very gratified to know they’re helping. We let them know who they’re impacting, we set a goal and make it an enjoyable time. Be prepared to sweat a little, though,” she said.

Rollins likes to get church groups or team-building work teams signed up. I volunteered on a day for donors to volunteer. There are slots for individuals too. There is an online sign-up system, easy to find on their website: Click “Connection” and find “Volunteer.” 

But first, hold up. Everyone wants to volunteer around the holidays. But, see above, hunger doesn’t stop. They really need you in January. Or April or May. So think of it now and sign up for later. Your kids can begin volunteering when they’re 13. The Power Pack line is a little slower than others, but it’s good for families.   

If you’d like something more front-facing, work in one of the markets. Bea Taylor Market is at the River Road facility; there is also a food pantry at the original Liberty Street location. They do large, drive-through events that need volunteers. And the Freestore supplies many other pantries and soup kitchens around town. Look into one in your neighborhood. 

Really don’t have the time? Well, that’s OK. They need money, too, and they’ll take it any time of year. 

Happy holidays, everyone! To every single person in Greater Cincinnati.

Polly Campbell writes monthly on a variety of topics, and she welcomes your feedback and column suggestions at: editor (at) moversmakers.org.