5 Ways to Get Involved: Hunger Action Month 2010

For many of us, waging the war against hunger is an everyday battle. In support of Hunger Action Month, please read below and share the following to your network of friends and colleagues in an effort to gain strength as anti-hunger advocates!  Together we will make a difference.

September 2010: HUNGER ACTION MONTH

5 Ways to Become Engaged

1. Participate in the OASHF Paper Plate Project

There is no better way for our local legislators and the media to understand the hardships faced by millions of Ohioans than to hear from the Ohioans who are faced with making tough choices each and every day. To give a glimpse into the lives of what a staggering number of Ohioans are facing because of the Great Recession, the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks is launching the Paper Plate Project! The Paper Plate Project is an opportunity for Ohioans to share their stories regarding their daily lives and the trails they are facing: giving a voice to those who feel they are not being heard. To learn how you can become involved, visit www.oashf.org and select CALL TO ACTION or call 614/221-4336.

2. Donate your time, talents and treasures

Join hands with your local foodbanks to donate your time, talents or treasures Ohio’s 12 Feeding America Foodbanks have each seen a substantial increase in the number of Ohioans turning to their doors in the face of strapped or completely exhausted resources. Due to the monumental number of Ohioans in need, there is a need for additional resources coming into the foodbanks.

Ways in which you can become involved include:

• Volunteering for at least two hours at a local food pantry or soup kitchen.
• Supporting your local foodbank by “liking” them on Facebook or becoming involved in community programs that are of interest to you enables your local foodbank to have a higher presence within your community.
• For every $1 that is donated to the foodbank network, 5 meals can be purchased, which are returned to your community’s food pantries, soup kitchens and homeless shelters.
• High protein, nutrient rich foods are always a necessity for all members of the emergency food network, including canned tuna and peanut butter.

3. Become a trained Ohio Benefit Bank Counselor

The Ohio Benefit Bank is an Internet-based, counselor assisted service that connects low- and moderate-income families to tax credits and work supports. As a response to the declining economic plight facing thousands of Ohioans, The Ohio Benefit Bank connects individuals and families to the support they need where they live, work, play, and pray. By becoming a trained Ohio Benefit Bank Counselor, you will be able to help your friends and neighbors who are in need. To learn more about The Ohio Benefit Bank and how you can become involved, visit www.obb.ohio.gov or call 614/221-4336.

4. Hold a Food and Fund Drive

Did you know that millions of Ohioans visit the emergency food network each year? Did you know that for every $1 that is donated to the Ohio emergency food network, 5 meals can be purchased? To ensure that the needs of Ohioans are met, food and fund drives help local foodbanks distribute food to its network of member soup kitchens and food pantries right in your neighborhood! By setting up a food and fund drive, you will be helping your friends and neighbors who are in need of support during their times of need. To set up food and fund drive, visit www.dosomething.org/feedtheneed

5. Contact your local legislators

Our country was founded on three small, but powerful words, “We the people”! To ensure that your elected officials hear directly from those that they represent and who brought them to office, we encourage each and every Ohioan who is entrenched in the fight against hunger to call their legislator and say “The United States cannot cut its way out of a budget shortfall. Stand up and ensure that measures are taken to restore all dollars slated to be cut from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP Program) in 2014.” To contact your local Representative or Congressperson, visit www.usa.gov/contact  or call 1/800-648-1176 and ask for the direct number for your local legislator.

OBB Central Region Sites and Counselors Recognized at the Community Meeting and Training

At the recent OBB Community Meeting and Training the Central Region was represented in a big way!

• Over 200 people from throughout the region were in attendance.
• Lucinda Mitchell, an OBB counselor for Faith Mission and The Open Shelter, was awarded the Counselor of the Year Award. Both of the sites Lucinda volunteers for serve the homeless and marginally housed populations in Columbus; populations that are extremely vulnerable and underserved. Lucinda was nominated for the award because she consistently delivers a high level of customer service to the people she serves.
• The partnership of The Well at Sunnyside and the Community Action Commission of Fayette County was awarded the Neighbors Helping Neighbors award. These sites jointly applied for and were awarded a capacity-building grant last tax season. By combining their resources, reputations in the community, and the added support of funds from OASHF this partnership served far more people than each entity could serve alone.

As you Regional Coordinator I would like to say thank you to each and every one of you. Not only for representing the Ohio Benefit Bank so well at the Community Meeting and Training, but for the tireless work you do each and every day to make sure Ohioans have access to the resources they so desperately need.

Keep it up, and don't hesitate to be in contact!

OBB Community Meeting and Training press release

Below is the text for the OBB Conference press release. If your organization would like an editable Microsoft Word copy for you to put in your agency contact information and send to your local press, please contact Sarah at solinger@oashf.org

COUNSELORS COME TOGETHER TO CELEBRATE ACCOMPLISHMENTS

3rd Annual Ohio Benefit Bank Conference Brings Together Over 500 Counselors from across Ohio

Columbus, OH – It has been nearly 4 ½ years since The Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks (OASHF) first took The Ohio Benefit Bank on an expansive, 88-county, Ohio road show. In that short amount of time, OASHF, along with the Office of Governor Ted Strickland and over 1,000 community and faith-based organizations from throughout Ohio, have impacted the lives of hundreds of thousands of Ohioans.

September 1st and 2nd marked the third annual Ohio Benefit Bank Community Meeting and Training hosted by OASHF. As in the years past, the meeting and training was being held at the Crowne Plaza and gave individuals involved in The Ohio Benefit Bank network the opportunity to come together to learn of fellow counselors successes, as well as news ways in which to utilize The Ohio Benefit Bank to better serve those in need.

This year’s meeting was slated with a number of special guests, including Key Note speaker, Douglas Lumpkin, director of The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS). From the time that Director Lumpkin took the reins at ODJFS, and even during his tenure as the Director of Franklin County Department of Job and Family Services, he has been a key player and vital partner in the utilization of The Ohio Benefit Bank. Knowing the hardships that are being faced at the county department of job and family services, matched with the increasing number of Ohioans in need, Director Lumpkin has stated, “We know we are in difficult times, but we are committed to working with our partners – including our partners at the counties and at the Benefit Bank – to find ways to be more creative, more innovative, and to leverage all the tools at our disposal to do a better job of serving our customers while also operating more efficiently. We already have done much, but we know we can do more. Together, we need to ask: How do we make the world work better?”

Along with this year’s Key Note Speaker, The Ohio Benefit Bank Community Meeting and Training was also attended by Lisa Roberts, the director of the Friends and Neighbors Food Pantry, Jack Frech, director of the Athens County Department of Job and Family Services, Barb Packer, with Lutheran Social Services of Central Ohio, as well as Justin Balding, producer for NBC News. Featured in the Dateline NBC America Now: Friends and Neighbors, Lisa Roberts worked with Justin Balding and his associates at NBC News, in an effort to shine light onto the reality that is southeast Ohio; a region of the country that has been plagued with poor economic conditions for the greater part of the last 60 years, since the fall of the coal mining industry. By opening the doors to the Friends and Neighbors Pantry, Lisa explained the turmoil that the Great Recession has played on the lives of our country’s most vulnerable population, the poor. In a time when much effort is placed on assisting those who are asking for help for the first time in their lives, American Now: Friends and Neighbors gave viewers the chance to see the impact that is being felt by those who already feel forgotten.

Throughout the meeting, special recognition will be given to Ohio Benefit Bank sites, along with individual Ohio Benefit Bank Counselors, whose exemplary work and dedication to helping those in need has stood out among the Ohio Benefit Bank network. Awards presented during the meeting include, Counselor of the Year, Site of the Year and the prestigious, Neighbors Helping Neighbors award, which is given for innovative excellence and collaboration.

For more information on The Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks call 614/221-4336 or visit www.oashf.org

For more information on The Ohio Benefit Bank call 614/221-4336 or visit www.obb.ohio.gov

For more information on The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services call 614/466-2100 or visit www.jfs.ohio.gov

Contact: Charles Barber, Communications Manager for the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks at 614/221-4336 ext. 243 or 614/493-7502 (cell)

The Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks is Ohio’s largest charitable response to hunger. OASHF helps provide food and funding to support the infrastructure of 12 member foodbanks representing regions throughout the state of Ohio. Over the past year, Ohio’s foodbanks have distributed more than 136 million pounds of food and groceries to more than 3,000 member charities, including food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters and food assistance organizations.


The Ohio Benefit Bank is an internet tool that through the guidance of trained counselors assists low- and moderate-income Ohioans get connected with work supports, income enhancements and assistance programs, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, food assistance and Medicaid programs. Since the program’s inception in 2006, The Ohio Benefit Bank has assisted over 164,000 become connected with tax credits and work supports with the potential value of over $349 million.


The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services offers a wide range of services to individuals and families as a means to finding a solution to their temporary challenges. Services provided through ODJFS include unemployment compensation, health care, cash assistance, food assistance, child care, child support enforcement and administration, and employment and training assistance.

Reminder: Families Receiving Food or Cash Assistance Must Return Interim Report

Households approved for food or cash assistance after April 2010 are usually certified for 12 months of assistance. But, they must complete and return an "Interim Report" that is sent to them in month 5 of their certification period by Job and Family Services. If the Interim Report is not received by the deadline any food or cash assistance will be cut off. The report is sent on the 9th day of the month and is due back on the 21st day. This is a very short turnaround time, so anything you can do to remind families of this reporting responsibility would be a big help. To view an example of an Interim Report, click here.

Welcome to OBBservations in Central Ohio!

The Ohio Benefit Bank network in Central Ohio is constantly expanding to serve larger numbers of Ohioans. The Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks works to support this network by providing training, outreach materials, and advocacy on the state and federal level for policies that make sense. This blog is another way to keep you informed and to gather your input. It is our intention that this blog will also provide an outlet for you to share successes, struggles, best practices, develop collaborations, and share those special stories that make this work so rewarding.
Here’s what you can find on this blog (Please bookmark this page to come back often)

• Access the OBB training and live-site log in pages.
• The latest counselor training schedule will always be posted on the calendar along with trainings and other events that will enhance your usage of the OBB.
• Information about funding opportunities through the Governor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives and OBB Marketing Materials order form are also linked on the blog.
• Click on your county on the map found on the front page for quick access to local community resources
• Find links to other blogs maintained by OASHF programs and a link to the latest OBB newsletter.

We invite you to contribute guest posts for this blog, please send submissions to John DeSimone – jdesimone@oashf.org, Sarah Olinger – solinger@oashf.org, or Zach Reat – zach@oashf.org. Thanks for visiting, we hope to see you again soon!