OhioHealth Marion General Hospital Leaders Lend Support to The Salvation Army’s Mobile Food Pantry
Under clear blue skies a team of volunteers set up tents and tables and got to work packing box after box of kitchen pantry staples and self-care supplies. In its latest community initiative, leaders from OhioHealth Marion General Hospital joined The Salvation Army for its mobile food pantry event, on Friday May 31st, providing Marion residents access to nutritious food and necessary household supplies right where they live.
To eliminate the barrier of transportation that many face, The Salvation Army’s mobile food pantry was parked right in the green space of a Marion apartment complex so that residents did not have to walk far from their front steps to access the resources they need. Five leaders from Marion General Hospital were on hand to help pack up the supplies and carry them straight to residents’ homes. Those leaders included the hospital’s new president, Jim Parobek.
“At OhioHealth Marion General Hospital, we really want to be a part of Marion and improve the health of the community,” Parobek said. “Assisting local resources, like The Salvation Army, with providing access to food and helping deliver it right to our neighbors’ homes, is another way we are helping to do this.”
The collaboration comes at a time during the summer months when schools are closed, and families face heightened challenges in securing access to nutritional food on a regular basis. According to The Salvation Army, mobile food pantries bring essential food to locations that are considered “food deserts,” meaning they lack access to food pantries, grocery stores, and an adequate selection of healthy foods.
“The support from OhioHealth this year is allowing us to purchase more food, to add additional sites, and to be able to provide our free lunches as well which is super important now that schools are out,” said Kristin Price of The Salvation Army.
Price also described the recent increase in need.
“When the pandemic hit, we went from ordering just a few truckloads of food here and there every few months to ordering truckloads every week. Now we are seeing an increase once again with inflation taking place in the economy. People just can’t afford to buy a $4 or $5 box of cereal,” Price explained. “That’s why we are really grateful for our community’s support.”
At Friday’s mobile food pantry event, OhioHealth volunteers handed out 178 food boxes and 429 bagged lunches.
In addition to lending physical support from volunteers for the mobile food pantry, OhioHealth donated $5,000 to the Salvation Army in Marion this past spring.
