One of the many perks of the Stark County Campus is its closer proximity to hunger-relief partners in the Foodbank’s southern region. The drive from Stark, Carroll, Holmes and Tuscarawas counties to the Main Campus in Akron could be prohibitive for hunger-relief programs that rely on volunteers and their time to pick up food orders. In addition to saving time, the Stark County Campus also saves partners wear-and-tear on their vehicles and the cost of fuel.
Jamie Rupert, the volunteer director of T.O.S.M. food program, is thrilled to pick up her program’s food order from the new facility. “Picking up food from the Stark County Campus helps us so much; now we’re only a half-hour away. After we get our food loaded, we go straight to our distribution site to begin setting up.”
When Jamie would pick up food from the Main Campus in Akron, depending on the time it took to load her order and unexpected traffic, they might arrive late to set up their own distribution. If this happened, she and her volunteers would then have no time for lunch.
T.O.S.M. picks up food every Wednesday and distributes it to 250-300 families each week. Each family receives enough food for 3-4 days. T.O.S.M.’s mobile pantry sets up in parking lots across the city of Massillon on a rotating basis, helping to ensure residents in a variety of neighborhoods have access to nourishing food.
"If it weren't for the Foodbank, I wouldn't even have a program because I couldn't purchase this amount of food. I don't know where I'd get it from."
The Foodbank is the main source of food for T.O.S.M.'s food program.