By: Catrina Leone, intern
Another great weekend for events in Cleveland! Charter One provided more than 100,000 meals through the Carving Out Hunger program with the Cleveland Foodbank. More than 7,000 turkeys will be given to families this holiday season! To help thousands of people in our area enjoy a healthy holiday meal this Thanksgiving season, the Charter One Foundation has donated $70,000 to the Cleveland Foodbank as part of its Carving Out Hunger program. An estimated 103,253 meals will be provided to the families in need. And of course, TV20 was there to catch-all the great food and great people pitching in for this event!
Randy Corbin, the Ohio Retail Director at Charter One commented, “Charter One’s Carving out Hunger program is a tremendous way to kick off the holiday season and we are excited to once again be working with the Cleveland Foodbank. We are honored to make this season more enjoyable by providing nutritious holiday meals to families who need a little extra help at this time of year.”
This year, the Foodbank has provided 40 million meals! Every little bit counts. This time of year is the busiest, when it typically distributes more than 100,000 pounds of food per day. SNAP (also known as food stamps) were reduced on November 1st by approximately $10 per person per month. Anne Goodman, President and CEO of the Cleveland Foodbank said “With the recent SNAP cuts, the number of people in need of food assistance is expected to increase even more during the holidays. It is encouraging to see companies like Charter One step up to the plate with this incredible donation.” Anne could not be more correct, this is a wonderful cause that will definitely not go un-noticed!
This past Thursday, November 7th at 10am, dozens of Charter One volunteers prepared meals for local hunger relief organizations and helped load food into vehicles for Cleveland Foodbank member agencies. TV20’s own Leah Haslage was there to be apart of the excitement! Anne Goodman, Randy Corbin, and representatives of the Foodbank member agencies were available for multiple interviews.
The Charter One foundation has donated more than $900,000 since 2004 for holiday programs across Ohio, including the Toledo Northwestern Ohio Food Bank, Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank, Mid-Ohio Foodbank, Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley and the Cleveland Foodbank. The Carving Out Hunger Program is part of the Citizens Helping Citizens Fight Hunger, the bank’s program to bring to light and address hunger in its local communities.
For those who might not be familiar with this event, let me give you some additional information. The Foodbank is the largest hunger relief organization in Northeast Ohio, having provided more than 40 million meals in this year alone to those fighting hunger in Cuyahoga, Ashtabula, Geauga, Lake, Ashland and Richland counties. Their mission is simple: to ensure that everyone in the various communities has the healthy, nutritious foods they need daily. This is done by both food distribution and SNAP outreach efforts.
The Citizens Helping Citizens program goes hand in hand with the Cleveland Foodbank. This program embraces the communities goals of RBS Citizens Financial Group, Inc. There are five key initiatives that go into this amazing program: Citizens Helping Citizens fight hunger, provide shelter, strengthen economic development, teach money management, and Citizens Helping Citizens are always willing to volunteer and give back!
This event made a lasting impact on the community and people of Cleveland who may be less fortunate. Tis’ the season for giving, and that is what the Cleveland Foodbank is all about! Stay tuned to TV20 for more in-depth coverage of this event and many more. A big thank you goes out to everyone involved! TV20 is doing there part, starting a Food Drive to be donated to the Cleveland Foodbank!
(photos courtesy of Nancy Kelsey and TV20’s Leah Haslage)