Foodbank Facts
The Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank supports a network of more than 400 member agencies that operate food pantries, hot meal programs, shelters and other hunger-relief programs.
The Foodbank serves Carroll, Holmes, Medina, Portage, Stark, Summit, Tuscarawas and Wayne counties in northeast Ohio.
Hunger in Our Region
The Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank provides food for an estimated 179,800 different people annually.
About 40,600 different people receive emergency food assistance in any given week.
31% of the members of households served by the Foodbank’s network of member agencies are children under 18 years old.
41% of the households include at least one employed adult.
49% of the clients served by the Foodbank’s network reported having to choose between paying for food and paying for utilities or heating fuel.
42% of the clients served by the Foodbank’s network reported having to choose between paying for food and paying their rent or mortgage.
36% of households served by the Foodbank report having at least one household member in poor health, and 35% of clients served report having to choose between paying for food and paying for medicine or medical care.
Source: Feeding America, Hunger in America 2010
Hunger in Ohio
One in eight Ohioans was living in poverty in 2008 - 13.4% of the state population.1
In 2007, Ohio averaged 1,076,764 individuals per month participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP – formerly Food Stamp Program) – only 68% of eligible Ohioans participated.2
23.8% of children under 5 years of age are food insecure – either are hungry or are at risk of hunger. This is the 3rd highest rate in the country.3
18.7% of children under 18 years of age are food insecure.3
In 2008, the 12 Foodbanks in Ohio distributed over 98 million pounds of food.4
1Census Bureau 2008 American Community Survey
2Food Research and Action Center, State of the States 2008
3Feeding America, Child Food Insecurity in the United States: 2005-2007
4Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks
Hunger in America
The Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank is a member of Feeding America, the national network of more than 200 food banks.
Feeding America, through its national network of food banks, is annually providing food to 37 million Americans, including 14 million children. This is a 46% increase since 2006.5
More than one-third of client households served by Feeding America food banks report having to choose between food and other basic necessities, such as rent, utilities and medical care.5
In 2007, 37.3 million people (12.5%) were in poverty.6
9.7 percent of the elderly live below the poverty line, 3.6 million older Americans.6
In 2008, 4.1 percent of all U.S. households (4.7 million households) accessed emergency food from a food pantry one or more times.7
According to the USDA, an estimated 17 million children lived in food insecure (low food security and very low food security) households in 2008.7
In 2006, 16.8 million people lived in working-poor families. This translates into 7.7% of all American families living below 100% of poverty have at least one family member working.8
5Feeding America, Hunger in America 2010
6U.S. Census Bureau. Carmen DeNavas-Walt, B. Proctor, C. Lee. Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2007
7USDA. Mark Nord, M. Andrews, S. Carlson. Household Food Security in the United States, 2008
8U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2007 Annual Social and Economic Supplement (POV 10)
Learn more about hunger
Hunger in America 2010
Rural Hunger