Rural Relief Mobile Food Pantry

8/20/2022 UPDATE:

As many of you know we kept Hope alive and kept the Hope Machine on the road. We have been making our regular weekly distributions in 2022 with our repaired bus spreading the Hope. We could not have done it without you! Thank you for your support!

12/01/2021 UPDATE:

Did you know The Hope Machine is 30 years old? It is her time to retire. We know...sad news. The good news is that as our program evolves so will our means to distribute to the community. We would like to obtain a box truck that has the fun Rural Relief style you are use to for distribution of fresh produce and much needed items to our local children. We have faith that our supporters will help us to do this. Yesterday was a great distribution in Randolph. The sun was shining. The food was handed out in a half hour, and we got to see all of our Portage County friends. This will be our last distribution until we put all of the pieces of the puzzle together. We hope to announce a new schedule very soon. We are excited for our journey down the next leg of the Rural Relief road together.

Rural Relief Mobile Food Pantry is located in Portage County, Ohio. Many in our community lack a basic need—FOOD.

Common effects of hunger are:

Serious health complications when people are forced to choose between spending money on food, medicine or medical care

Damage to a child’s ability to learn and grow

Difficult decisions for seniors, often living on fixed incomes, such as choosing between paying for food and critical healthcare

People living in rural areas often experience hunger at higher levels and face unique challenges due to lack of transportation and limited to no local access to food banks, food pantries or grocery stores.

In 2019, 13% of all people in rural areas lived below the poverty line compared to 10% of people in urban areas (these numbers have no doubt increased due to COVID-19). 33% of Portage County’s population lives in rural areas.

According to Feeding America, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, 1 in 5 people (1 in 4 children) living in Portage County go without regular access to food.

Our mission is to address hunger in rural Portage County, Ohio by providing a no-cost mobile food pantry to underserved communities.

We are a network partner of the Akron Canton Regional Foodbank and coordinate with local townships and school districts to identify those in need. We visit these communities in need every other week.

Your donation will help us provide a basic need to struggling individuals and families, keeping them from having to choose between eating and other basic needs.

The communities that will benefit from your support include but are not limited to: Atwater; Charlestown; Deerfield; Garrettsville; Randolph; Rootstown; Shalersville and Windham.

Your donation of $50 will cover the costs to secure, package and transport enough food to feed 20 families, but no donation is too small and every contribution is greatly appreciated.

*We are a recognized 501(c)3 organization, your contribution is tax deductible