Charter One providing 7,500 holiday meals to people in need through the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank

Thousands of Akron and Canton area residents will enjoy a good holiday meal this year thanks to Charter One and the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank.

Through its long-running Carving Out Hunger program, the Charter One Foundation will donate $105,000 this year to food banks across Ohio. A $10,000 donation to the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank was used to provide 780 holiday turkeys to Akron and Canton families in need. The donation translates to an estimated 7,500 meals.

“We realize that too many Ohioans are still struggling to provide for themselves and their families,” said Ken Marblestone, president of Charter One, Ohio. “We hope that the meals donated through Charter One’s Carving Out Hunger program will make the holiday season a little better for those in need. Charter One believes strongly in giving something back to the communities we serve throughout Ohio.”

Charter One and the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank have teamed up for the seventh year in a row to provide nutritional holiday meals through Charter One’s Carving Out Hunger program, an annual campaign to raise awareness of hunger issues and provide holiday meals to local men, women and children in need. The turkeys – which total 9,750 pounds – will be distributed through the Foodbank’s 450 member agencies.

On Tuesday, November 15, Charter One volunteers came to the Foodbank to help repack food that will be distributed to those in need. The volunteers packed Kids Power Packs, well-balanced, shelf-stable meals for local hunger relief organizations.

The demand for food has continued to increase not only in Akron and Canton, but in surrounding suburbs as well. More and more families have sought the help of local hunger centers for assistance. In the last year, the Foodbank distributed 19.2 million pounds of food, up from 18.7 million pounds the year before. The holiday season is the food bank’s busiest time of year, and they often distribute more than 75,000 pounds of food a day.

“Charter One is an outstanding partner to the Foodbank,” said Dan Flowers, President and CEO of the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank. “On behalf of the thousands of hungry men, women and children in our community, I want to thank Charter One for this generous financial contribution and for supporting hunger-relief efforts in our community.”

The Charter One Foundation has donated more than $700,000 in the past seven years for holiday food 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.