An exciting and unique aspect to the Foodbank’s Stark County Campus is the onsite food pantry, serving individuals and families in a neighborhood that is now considered a food desert, meaning it has limited access to affordable and nutritious food. The new pantry is also a space to test new innovations that can be shared and scaled within our hunger-relief network, furthering the impact of our collective work.
The Keith D. Monda Family Food Pantry & Resource Center has already served nearly 12,000 people in its first 6 months, distributing more than 105,000 pounds of food to the local community. The pantry is open Tuesdays and Wednesdays and typically serves nearly 300 families each week. Community members in need have regular access to fresh fruits and vegetables, shelf-stable pantry items, meat, bread and dairy products.
“We were anticipating serving 100 families weekly, but it’s definitely grown as we continue to expand our reach and meet the community members visiting us,” said Cody Stanley, the Foodbank’s manager of direct service programs. "We’re happy to serve as a community resource and hope to further our relationships with local families, volunteers and other nonprofits offering support services.”
The Foodbank is proud to serve neighbors in need as a choice pantry. Embracing our value of innovation, the Foodbank utilizes Feeding America’s OrderAhead system. Individuals can virtually shop the pantry shelves from the comfort of their own home or at a kiosk within the pantry. Then all food items are picked and packed by Foodbank volunteers. If the order was placed outside the pantry, the individual can schedule an order pickup time, similar to scheduling a grocery pickup at a supermarket.
“Offering an e-ordering platform for people to choose the food items they’d like is incredibly important to us. To give people the choice to choose their own groceries offers them dignity during a difficult time in their lives. Hopefully, this program will reduce the stigma associated with accessing a food pantry,” said Cody.
Within the pantry is the Aultman Health Foundation Resource Room, a space in which community members can connect with resources beyond food, including legal aid, job readiness, health screenings and more. To learn more, please visit akroncantonfoodbank.org/starkcampus.
Foodbank staff and volunteers continue to learn, evolve and share best practices learned through operation of the pantry. Through this deeper connection point with our neighbors, the future is bright. So many community partners, donors and volunteers have shown their passion for serving our community in this new space. As more families visit the Stark County Campus to access the variety of resources
available, Foodbank staff will continue to evaluate and evolve the services offered by the pantry and resource room.