The Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank Warehouse and Agency Dock will be closing for Inventory at 10 a.m. on Friday, October 28, 2011.

No pick-up appointments or MarketPlace appointments will be taken after 9:30 a.m. on Friday, October 28.  Please plan your ordering and pick-up schedule to accommodate this closing.

The Order Line will remain open during this closing to accommodate orders for Monday, October 31.  Please remember, all orders for Monday, October 31, must be placed by 1 p.m. on Friday, October 28, 2011.

The Member Services Department staff will be attending a national conference on the following days:

Monday, October 10, 2011
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Please be aware that the Member Services Department staff will be unavailable during these days to assist you due to limited or no access to email and cell phone service.

During this time, all registrations for the Network Summit will be handled by Aaron Bartlett, Ohio Benefit Bank Community Organizer.  Aaron can be reached at 330.777.2303 or 330.535.6900 ext. 157.

All other phone calls and emails will be returned by Member Services Department staff after Wednesday, October 12, 2011.

If you have any questions or concerns during this time period, please speak with our receptionist or our Order Desk staff and they will direct you to the appropriate department for assistance.

ALL agencies must sign and return the 2011 Membership & Liability Agreement by Friday, July 15, 2011 regardless of when your agency last completed one.  Please note that items 5, 7, 11, 13, 14, 15, 19, 20, 22, 26, 30 are new to this agreement due to Feeding America requirements and clarifications to Foodbank policies.

Agencies receiving USDA & Ohio commodities must also sign and return the USDA & Ohio Commodities Agreement by Friday, July 15, 2011.  The content of this agreement reflects policies and procedures outlined in the Ohio Food Programs Manual published by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

The new 2011-2012 USDA/TEFAP Form that must be signed by all clients of Food Pantry programs and Direct Distributions is now available.  The form is effective July 1, 2011 and all Food Pantry programs and Direct Distributions must institute the new form starting July 1.  No older forms will be acceptable for use after June 30, 2011.

The new 2011-2012 USDA/TEFAP Form is officially titled "Ohio Department of Job and Family Services FEDERAL AND STATE FUNDED FOOD PROGRAMS ELIGIBILITY TO TAKE FOOD HOME."  This form is a self-declaration by the client stating that their household income qualifies them for food assistance.  The new 2011-2012 has a central forms code of: JFS 04221 (Rev. 7/2011).

New Forms Effective July 1, 2011:

*NEW* 2011-2012 Federal and State Funded Food Programs Eligibility to Take Food Home - English
*NEW* 2011-2012 Federal and State Funded Food Programs Eligibility to Take Food Home - Spanish
*NEW* 2011-2012 TEFAP Eligibility Guidelines

Please remember that no modifications, changes or attachments may be made to the new form.  This means no marks, numbers, additional words, sentences, disclaimers or notations of any kind are acceptable on the form, front or back. 

The form must be completed with the client's first and last name, full address including apartment number if applicable, city, zip code and phone number.  If the client is homeless, please write "homeless" on the address line.  If the client does not have a phone, please write "N/A" on the phone line.  The client must also provide the number of people living in their home by age group.  If there is no one living in the home in a certain age group, please place a zero (0) or a dash (--) in the age group.  Finally, the client must sign and date in the certification box the first time they receive food.  Each additional time they receive assistance, they must sign and date the lower half of the form.  If any of the household information has changed since their last visit, the form must be updated or a new form completed.

All client-completed forms must be kept for a minimum of three (3) years.  These forms are subject to audit by Foodbank staff and auditors representing the state and federal government.

If you have any questions regarding the new 2011-2012 form, please contact the Member Services Department.

The Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank is committed to promoting the growth and development of our partner agencies through education and training in order to provide an effective and efficient response to hunger, food security and nutrition throughout our 8 county areas.  As part of this commitment, we have created the Member Agency Training Needs Assessment. This survey is your opportunity to let us know what your training needs are.  The responses from this survey will be used to help us develop a training curriculum and allow on-going education and training workshops to enhance the capacity of our member agencies.

We appreciate all of your hard work in helping to feed people and fight hunger and we understand your time is very valuable. The survey should take approximately 5 - 10 minutes to complete. Once you have completed the survey please fax it to 330.996.5337 or mail to Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank, Attn: Adrienne Bradley, 350 Opportunity Parkway, Akron, OH 44307-2234.  Please return this survey BEFORE Monday, August 9, 2010. To download the survey, click HERE.

Thank you again for your hard work and continued support of the Foodbank! We look forward to your survey responses and by working together we can build a stronger hunger-relief network for our community!

Member Agency Training Needs Assessment Survey

Foodbank to release hunger study data
“Feed People. Fight Hunger. Convoy”
to visit 3 cities

Effective January 1, 2010, the Foodbank has become a Non-smoking campus.  Smoking will not be permitted on any part of the Foodbank property including the parking lots. 

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Agency Network Sees Increase In Services From Mid-year ’08 to ‘09

The Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank’s network of member agencies have reported a dramatic increase in the number of households and individual people seeking food assistance from mid-year 2008 to mid-year 2009. According to submitted monthly reports from our member agencies, food pantries have experienced an increase of 19% in the number of households they are serving. In addition, the total number of men, women and children living in households receiving food assistance has increased by 24%. This increase may be a direct result of the current economic downtown. According to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Ohio’s unemployment rate was 6.4% in June 2008. By June 2009, the unemployment rate had risen to 11.1%

As a response to the increase in demand for food assistance, the Foodbank has been able to increase the amount of food distributed to our network by 19%. In June 2008, the Foodbank had distributed over 6 million pounds of food year to date, compared to the 7.5 million pounds so far this year.