The Rev. John Klapp is perplexed when he hears that the recession has ended.
“It certainly hasn’t ended for the growing number of people that are coming to get food at our pantry each week,” said Klapp, pastor at The Sanctuary in Akron’s Kenmore neighborhood. “It’s astonishing. We’re feeding 1,000 more people a month than we were in July.”
The Sanctuary, home to Summit County’s largest Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank food distribution member, has already surpassed its goal to distribute 2 million pounds of food this year. To date, the pantry has given out more than 2.4 million pounds of food from the food bank and expects to exceed the 2.6 million mark by the end of the year.
“We are grateful for our network of hunger-relief partners, like The Sanctuary, who share our commitment in fighting hunger,” said Dan Flowers, president and CEO of the food bank. “They’re the food bank’s largest hunger-relief program in Summit County, and we value their hard work and continued efforts to help families in our community.”
The food bank distributes a daily average of 100,000 pounds of food from its warehouse and is on track this year to distribute 27.2 million pounds of food, the largest distribution in the agency’s history. To date, the nonprofit has distributed more than 26.3 million pounds of food to a network of 500 hunger-relief programs, including food pantries, hot meal sites and shelters in eight Northeast Ohio counties.
In January, the food bank is expected to announce a new strategic plan to deal with the growing need for food in its service area.
Last year, volunteers at The Sanctuary pantry distributed more than 1.7 million pounds of the 26 million pounds of food distributed by the food bank.
“While it’s great to know we are meeting a need and making a difference, it’s sad to know that there is a growing number of people in need,” Klapp said. “We could probably do a lot more, if we had a bigger place.”
Food bank representatives and others, like Akron Councilman Mike Freeman, who represents Akron’s Ward 9 where The Sanctuary is located, said they are amazed by the amount of food distributed from the cramped 2,000-square-foot space at The Sanctuary. Freeman has been working with the church to find a larger space to move into but has been unsuccessful so far.
Klapp and Rob VanPelt, director of the food pantry, said if they can secure a larger facility, they would reinstitute the hot meal program that was shut down during the summer because of a lack of space.
“We would love to expand to include a clothing ministry and a laundry ministry, to give people a place to wash their clothes,” VanPelt said. “We just want to help families find some stability, so we will continue to do what we have to do to help people.”
The food pantry, which started more than 20 years ago, has been a member agency of the local food bank since 2002.
Over the last five years, distribution at the pantry has grown from 256,520 pounds of food to 1,744,644 pounds last year and from serving about 512 people per month to feeding more than 6,000 per month. As a “choice” pantry, clients are able to select their own food — much like at a grocery store.
While most of the clientele live in Akron, the pantry attracts people from nearly 80 ZIP codes because of the quality of food, the option to select what you need and the hospitality of the more than 100 volunteers that serve the people who come to the pantry. Clients are not required to attend services to receive food.
In addition to needing a larger facility, the pantry needs freezers and volunteers. Anyone interested in helping is asked to call 330-548-2052.
Colette Jenkins can be reached at 330-996-3731 or cjenkins@thebeaconjournal.com. She can be followed at www.twitter.com/ColetteMJenkins.