Help Feed Our Neighbors Now

By Bruce Harris, Food2Share

While relative prosperity has commonly graced Aurora residents, an increasingly difficult economy has cast a broad shadow on the lives of families in communities everywhere. There is no category of need more critical than food insufficiency.

In each of the last two years, Food2Share’s city-wide, spring food drive yielded 24,000 pounds of food that was distributed to local pantries. That’s normally a sufficient amount of food. While the 2021 food donations lasted until January 2022, last year, the same amount of food nearly ran out in August!

Compounding this issue is that the federal/state pandemic relief plan used to provide an extra $200 to each individual in need to help them buy food. But at the end of February, the government food support plan ended in Ohio and all other states. So, despite the huge increase in food costs, a qualifying senior, who was getting $247 per month for food, now receives only $47 per month.

Food pantries will see demand for food go way up. How can Walden residents help? Donations of cash or Aldi’s gift cards are more valuable than food, because pantries can select the specific food that they are running short of instead of hoping that food donations will match the actual need.

A cash or gift card donation will assist Food2Share to help those most in need until the city-wide drive on April 20-22 this year.

Please make any checks out to Food2Share, Inc. (an Aurora-based charity serving Aurora and Mantua pantries, exclusively.) Send either checks or Aldi’s gift cards to 279 Ben Shaw Rd., Aurora. All donations are tax-deductible.

Sorry for the typo in our previous issue. We would like to apologize to the amazing Chef Rebecca Hess. She has been a big part of Walden for 28 years.