Photo courtesy of PCMA Food Pantry of Pickerington
A church group provides lunch sacks for PCMA Food Pantry of Pickerington clients.
Twenty-seven percent of students in the Pickerington Local School District receive free or reduced price lunches. For the second year running, the district will provide some support to households during the summer, when students don’t have access to the free and reduced price lunch federal program.
During the month of June, the district will again make food available at Tussing Elementary School for households in need. During the Summer Feeding Program, lunch will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. to children ages 1-18. Students do not have to qualify for the free and reduced price lunch program or even reside in the district. More than 50 percent of Tussing’s students are on the free and reduced price lunch program. The USDA, which sponsors both the summer and the in-school lunch programs, mandates that schools must meet at least that percentage to host federally sponsored summer lunch programs.
Judy Riley, food service supervisor for the district, says the goal last year was to serve at least 100 students per day, a goal the district met. Donatos and the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium partnered with the district last year as well. This year, Donatos and the zoo will again join the district.
On Mondays, Donatos will provide pizza. On Tuesdays, the Ohio State Extension Office of Fairfield County will sponsor nutrition education and physical activities. On Fridays, the Pickerington Public Library will sponsor reading along with arts and crafts. The zoo and Donatos will also provide prizes and giveaways.
Chicken nuggets, chicken tenders, corn, fruit cups, green beans and stuffed-crust pizza will be some of the foods featured in meals. An alternate lunch including yogurt, a cheese stick, graham crackers, fruit, vegetables and milk will be available. All meals must be eaten on site.
When Pickerington schools were closed for snow days this past winter, the importance of the federal free and reduced lunch program became evident, says PCMA Food Pantry of Pickerington Director of Community Relations and Development Barbara Meek. Many parents called the pantry requesting emergency food packets.
Even when school is in session, children represent a significant portion of those served by the PCMA Food Pantry. In March, the pantry served 155 households, or 548 individuals, Meek says. Forty-one percent of that number was children under 17 years of age.
On average the food pantry sees between 160-195 households per month, or between 500-650 individuals, Meek says. That number tends to decrease in the summer, since gardens provide some households with more produce. Still, the pantry’s produce, also more readily available in the warmer months, tends to be popular then as well.
The summer season also means time off from school, when some households must search for alternatives to the free and reduced lunches students receive when class is in session. Thanks to the donations of a local church, over the summer the pantry gives lunch sacks with non-perishable items such as crackers and apples to clients to have in addition to their eight-day, 24-meal-per-person monthly food allowance.
“We go through those quickly,” Meek says of the lunch sacks.
The pantry will also again get summer support from local fire departments. During Pack the Pantry, which takes place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on June 20, various fire departments will collect food and household items. The items collected at the three Violet Township Fire Houses (2365 Taylor Square Dr., 8700 Refugee Rd. and 21 Lockville Rd.) will go to the pantry.
Clients come to the pantry for various reasons, including divorce, unemployment and health issues, Meek says. Some retirees are trying to make ends meet on a fixed income. Many visit sporadically, during the months that bills or other hardships make buying food difficult. While some people assume that clients are homeless, the majority have stable residences. Some, though, are temporarily homeless, perhaps living with someone else.
“Our confidentiality is really important,” Meek says.
The pantry is available for residents of the Pickerington Local School District. Clients must prove residency with a utility bill from the last three months and must be at or below 200 percent of federal poverty guidelines. Clients can make appointments via the Fairfield County food pantry line before shopping days (Mondays 6:30-8:30 p.m., and Thursdays and Saturdays 10 a.m.-noon. Since PCMA is a choice pantry, clients can choose their food from among various donations.
A nonprofit, the pantry is an agency of the Mid-Ohio Foodbank and receives generous funding from the United Way. Most of its food comes from the food bank, local churches and the school district. The Hill Road Kroger also donates produce, bread and sweets on Thursdays and Saturdays. Monetary donations are also put to good use, as the pantry can purchase $10 of food from the food bank for every dollar it raises.
The PCMA Food Pantry of Pickerington will hold its first food Truck Frenzy on June 14 at Seton Parish grounds, 600 Hill Rd. Proceeds raised by sponsorship and a percentage of food truck sales goes directly to the pantry.
Donations can be made online to the food pantry at www.pcmafoodpantry.com. Food donations can be made during client hours (Mondays 6:30-8:30 p.m., and Thursdays and Saturdays 10 a.m.-noon. Those who would like to hold food drives for the pantry can call 614-834-0079. The pantry is closed on major holidays and the fifth Monday, Thursday and Saturday of each month.
Sarah Sole is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at ssole@cityscenemediagroup.com.
