Learning Where to Donate Food with Renee Fuller from Second Harvest Food Bank
Note: this is a transcript from our recent AHA interview. If you would like to watch the video, check out our content studio page. This interview is also available as a podcast episode – find it here.
Steve Stack:
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How Every Food Donation Makes a Difference
Steve Stack:
Hello, everybody. I’m Steve Stack, back here at Studio 3B. I have a very special guest today to discuss a subject matter that goes way beyond the hardwood lumber industry. I have Renee Fuller from Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley with me. We’re going to take some time and talk about the importance of what Second Harvest Food Bank does in the Valley (and nationally, for that matter) and the philanthropy of giving back to the community, whether from businesses or individuals. So, with that said, thanks for joining us today, Renee.
Renee Fuller:
You’re welcome. Thanks for having me.
Steve Stack:
We have a bunch to talk about, specifically what you folks do in the Valley. I know you guys do a heck of a job with marketing and getting it out there. We’ve had the privilege of partnering with Second Harvest for a number of years now. So, just in general, tell us a little bit about the Second Harvest Food Bank.
Renee Fuller:
Sure. First, I want to preface everything by saying thank you very much for all that you and Baird Brothers have given back to us over the years. I did a little math and just from the last ten years, Baird Brothers alone has contributed over 527,000 meals to people in Mahoning, Columbiana and Trumbull counties. So I just want to thank you more than anything.
Steve Stack:
Well, you’re welcome, and thank you. That’s the Baird family. They believe in the Mahoning Valley. They believe in the community. They hold Second Harvest Food Bank very high in terms of what’s important in our day-to-day business. So, that’s good.
I know that Second Harvest Food Bank is blessed with business partnerships in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana Counties here in northeast Ohio that are there day in, day out, year in, year out. And that’s just representative of the culture in the Mahoning Valley.
Renee Fuller:
Yes.
Steve Stack:
As the folks at Second Harvest, your approach is to make it easy to be a partner. With that, take me through your day-to-day. I mean, the day-to-day operations. There are day-to-day needs.
Renee Fuller:
Yes.
Steve Stack:
What kind of problems — or, I don’t even want to call them problems. I want to call them situations. Well, you’re a problem solver. So, I guess, I’m going to call it a problem. What problems are you faced with day to day that you have to solve?
Renee Fuller:
A lot of it will involve phone calls or messages (often on Facebook or through email) of people that are looking for help. Some people don’t know where to turn. They’ve never had to ask for help before. We especially saw a lot of that in the last couple of years with the pandemic. We had people that were affected by job loss or even the amount of hours that they worked when they were cut back. They had to find ways to make ends meet and still take care of their family.
Food became one of those things that really made things scary for people. We received so many phone calls (and we still do now, depending on the day or the time of the month) from people that are in desperate situations looking for help. Some of them are very emotional, and it’s hard to not be emotional back with them because they break your heart. And they’re almost embarrassed. We don’t want anyone to ever feel embarrassed. We’re there to help them.
Everyone needs a helping hand here or there. Sometimes it’s just for a moment, or it might be for a while. But we are blessed that we can help everyone as best as we can. We either point them in the right direction on where to go to get food assistance, because we have 163 different partner agencies under us that provide community food.
We have school pantries. We have regular food pantries. Most of our pantries are in churches. We also have some homeless shelters. We have meal sites. We have some centers that take care of senior citizens and daycares. And basically, all of those partners get food items out to the people that need them most.
Where To Find Food Drives and Get Help
Steve Stack:
Okay. So, down in Youngstown, where your offices and warehouses are, is a drop-off location for food donations. I know that.
Renee Fuller:
Yes.
Steve Stack:
You have other supply sources and food sources that deliver there, but then you have a network underneath you of, what, 160 plus partners?
Renee Fuller:
Yeah. 163.
Steve Stack:
In your distribution network.
Renee Fuller:
Yes.
Steve Stack:
Can people stop at the facility in Youngstown or do you distribute directly to the families there? Or do you try to channel them to the churches, the schools, etc.?
Renee Fuller:
We always try to channel them because we are just the warehouse. We house the food and distribute it out to the agencies. Some will come to pick it up. Some we deliver to them. But we do our best to find what’s closest to where someone is residing.
Steve Stack:
That makes sense.
Renee Fuller:
Because a lot of times, if they need help with food, they may not have a lot of gas to go driving around, thinking, “Where could I go?” They may need help with other items, as well. So, we try to be cognizant of that fact and determine what’s in your neighborhood. That way you know where you can go from that point on to get help. Sometimes there may be more than one place for them to choose what works best for them. They can also send someone on their behalf, but they would have to make that initial contact.
At the warehouse, we don’t distribute to individuals, but we are more than happy to get them situated on where they could find that help. Another very good resource that we use besides our own is the Help Network. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of them.
Steve Stack:
No, we have not.
Renee Fuller:
They’re a wonderful resource. Going back to what I said about if someone needs help with food, they may need help with other items, they can dial 211 for the Help Network of Northeast Ohio. They are known to help in any way, shape or form as a resource for people.
So, one of the main things that they’re known for is suicide prevention and awareness. So, if anyone went to their website, that is the first thing they’ll see. But below that on their website, they have all the icons that you could think of. Basically, if you need help with clothing, with food, with utilities, senior citizen services, you name it. So, they are a wonderful resource that people may not know about. They know about other places in addition to our 163 partner agencies that may have food or food giveaways, distributions, etc. And they can say, “This is in your area.” They just need your zip code.
Steve Stack:
That’s right. So, what is the phone number again?
Renee Fuller:
211.
Steve Stack:
Just dial 211 on the phone.
Renee Fuller:
That’s the simplest way.
Fighting Hunger Takes a Village
Steve Stack:
I’m going to backtrack a little bit. You referred to yourself and Second Harvest Food Bank as “just a warehouse”. No. Folks, if you’ve never been, they are not just a warehouse. They have an amazing team of volunteers.
Renee Fuller:
We sure do.
Steve Stack:
They have an amazing team of front office people from the receptionist to the staff that manages office clerical duties. There’s Mike Iberis, executive director and a wonderful gentleman, you as director of development, and all the fellows out in the warehouse that receive the food (whether it’s in pallets or shopping bags). They keep that warehouse meticulously organized.
Renee Fuller:
It’s spotless.
Steve Stack:
Yes, spotless. From the non-perishable food items to the refrigerated food side, it’s an operation. We haven’t been able to do it the last couple of years because of the pandemic, but you invite volunteer groups into the facility.
Folks, if you’ve got a team of people, reach out to Renee. When times get back to normal (and they will), reach out to Renee and whether you take a group of four people down or a group of 12 people, they need help, because some of the products are in volume.
Renee Fuller:
Yes.
Steve Stack:
And they need to be broken down into serving sizes. For example, I’ll never forget one of my first visits because I saw the largest bag of cereal I’ve ever seen in my life. I’m talking about something that was probably four or five-foot around and stood taller than me. That has to be portioned for distribution to multiple families.
Renee Fuller:
And labeled.
Steve Stack:
Right?
Renee Fuller:
Mm-hmm.
Steve Stack:
And the warehouse guys work fantastically with the volunteers while you’re there. Then you go one step further. To get it out to your 160 distributors, some of them come and pick stuff up, but you have a staff of volunteer drivers. And I know one of the gentlemen, Jay.
Renee Fuller:
Everyone knows Jay.
Steve Stack:
Well, he was in the delivery service business.
Renee Fuller:
Yes. He can’t seem to get out of that.
Steve Stack:
No. And he knows a lot of people. What a great guy, though.
Renee Fuller:
He is.
Steve Stack:
Unknowingly, he’s the frontman of Second Harvest. Not only do they deliver to distributors, but when companies have collections and drives, your guys come out, pick it up and take it back to your so-called warehouse (the understatement of the interview). Then it gets run through your system. I mean, no, it’s not “just a warehouse.”
Renee Fuller:
It is the warehouse.
Steve Stack:
Yes. I mean, there is a lot of fantastic stuff going on down there. I know a little bit of the backstory just because of Baird Brothers’ involvement with Second Harvest. I’ve had the opportunity to work with you and Mike. I know some of the history, but you folks have been down there since like 2007?
Renee Fuller:
Actually, 1984 is when the actual food bank started. There were a couple of different locations before we moved to where we are now.
Steve Stack:
Okay.
Renee Fuller:
But yes, it started out way back then. So, we’re going to be in our 40th year of operation.
Steve Stack:
That’s an accomplishment, especially in the sense that, referencing our Mahoning Valley, it takes quite the staff to make all of this happen.
Renee Fuller:
And we’re a very small staff. We rely on our volunteers a lot.
Steve Stack:
Right. I know the volunteer opportunities from over the years. I’ve had the chance to stop in for many different reasons. You always see some of the same faces, but you always see new faces.
Renee Fuller:
Yes.
Steve Stack:
Again, that goes back to the Mahoning Valley and how much people care. Folks, if you want to get involved in a community service type of project or volunteering, they might not be able to use you right now with the pandemic, but they’re always looking for help. Downstream, the need is still going to be there.
Renee Fuller:
Oh yes.
Steve Stack:
And volunteers will still be needed. So, reach out to Second Harvest. If nothing else, get on a list.
Renee Fuller:
Yes, I do keep a list, especially when we have groups that want to come in. I do have a waiting list right now, which, fortunately, I’m glad that we do have a waiting list. Once we are able to open back up to bring groups in, we’ll be ready to go right away because we have normal, weekly volunteers that come in now.
We have about 85 good samaritans that come in as our core group. We have a Monday group, a Tuesday group, and they’re the same ones that come in over and over. And they do a great job. But sometimes there are some very big projects that take a little longer. It’s very helpful when we’re able to get these outside groups coming in. It might be for like a two-hour shift. We used to do Thursday or Friday afternoon from 1:00 p. m. to 3:00 p. m., sometimes Saturday morning from 9:00 a. m. to noon.
Right now, as you said, that is on hold, unfortunately, because of the pandemic. But, we’re hoping to get lucky in spring. Although, we have said this before. Once everything opens back up, we’ll be hopefully very busy with some groups and charitable organizations coming in to help us.
Steve Stack:
I want to put that in perspective a little bit about “just this little warehouse” over in Youngstown. You mentioned 85 volunteers, staff coming in and out of there. You’re approaching the same number of volunteers as our full-time employees.
Renee Fuller:
Wow.
Steve Stack:
Look at the footprint of this operation. We run on about 120 employees to make this place operate every day. And you’re right there at 85. So, just that little warehouse is not “just that little warehouse.” Right?
Renee Fuller:
Yeah. The nice thing too, going back to the 85 volunteers, is that if we had to have staff for that, they’re saving us about five to seven full-time employees. Being a nonprofit organization, one of the big things we have to do is be very cognizant of what we’re spending on things and try to do as much as we can through the volunteers.
Steve Stack:
Very much so.
Renee Fuller:
They are a big help.
Trying to End Hunger During a Pandemic
Steve Stack:
That just reinforces the point I was trying to get across, the complexity of your operation down there. There are multiple, multiple levels from the receptionist when you walk in the door, all the way through to the drivers and everybody in between. You’re talking, and this was, I think, just from the location where you’re at now, you start talking about numbers like 1.2 million dollars worth of food. 900,000 pounds of food.
The organization you have to have in that building to manage those kinds of numbers amazes me. I know the last couple of years have been very difficult across the country, worldwide for that matter, but in the Mahoning Valley, we haven’t been unblemished with this pandemic. I know it’s been tough on you, folks. I know for a while you had some National Guardsmen and National Guardswomen doing some of the jobs of the volunteers because the volunteers weren’t allowed at the facility.
Renee Fuller:
Right. For about 15 months, we had the National Guard. If we weren’t able to have them there, we had the 12 Ohio food banks ask Governor DeWine for help, because we were all in the same boat. We all have a big volunteer base and we rely on them to help us get all of our different jobs done. When we got the National Guard, it was like a Godsend because we didn’t have enough staff to do everything that would need to be done.
We had to figure out different ways to get the food out there, more than what we’ve ever done before. The volunteers are worried about staying healthy, staying safe, and not being affected by the pandemic. A lot of them had to switch from people coming indoors for a choice pantry, which means things are set up and they can basically shop through the pantry to determine what they want or need and take that with them to a distribution type setup, where you would drive through and people would put things in the car, that way everyone was staying safe.
So, that’s how our traveling food pantry came about. We went across the three counties at fairgrounds, some schools, anywhere where we could get a few hundred cars in and out. The Guard was there helping us, not only driving vehicles to get the food there but lined up to help put the food in the trunks. We would’ve never been able to pull all of that off without their assistance.
Steve Stack:
That’s amazing. I know we experienced it ourselves. We all had to go outside of the box and come up with a way to stay viable. We’ve introduced a couple of different things over the last 24-28 months, however long it’s been (too long). When there’s a need, you adjust.
Renee Fuller:
Yes, because you have to. People are counting on you. Back to our warehouse guys, again. Some of them were going in on Saturdays to get things ready for the following week. During that whole timeframe, some of them were even having to go in on Sunday. So, we didn’t skip a beat. I mean, we stayed open the whole time and tried to do our best to get the food out as fast as possible and in as many areas as possible. And I think we did a pretty darn good job.
Steve Stack:
I know you did a very good job. And under those circumstances, the need of the people didn’t diminish. If anything, it is elevated.
Renee Fuller:
Oh my gosh, it sure did, Steve. In 2019, we distributed about 11 million pounds of food. Each week when people go to our different agencies, they track everything. So, when you hear us say the number of how many children, how many families, how many senior citizens we’re serving, that’s all tracked by our agencies. At that point in 2019, we were receiving through our agencies about 11,000 requests for food assistance each week. That’s really about our normal number.
When the height of the pandemic began in 2020, around March and April, we had between 20,000 to 21,000 requests per week. Our agencies were overwhelmed. Some of them were getting double, triple the number of people coming there. Some of them just couldn’t handle it and had to shut down. So again, that’s when we thought, “Okay, what else can we do?” So, we started to do those mass distributions.
Now, the numbers have leveled out a little bit. We’re back to around 13,000 to 14,000 requests a week, which is still high. We expect that to go up slightly, because when some of these changes that were made to help people get by during the pandemic are taken back, we may see those numbers climb. People have counted on that extra income for their families, and they are no longer going to have that help.
Steve Stack:
Something stuck with me during one of my visits down there. You reminded me when you just touched on families and used the word “kids”. One of my visits, I witnessed, was almost like a backpack program. The kids have been affected the last two years, too. A lot of times kids rely on food coming from school.
Renee Fuller:
Yes.
Steve Stack:
All of a sudden the kids aren’t going to school, so they’re not on their lunch programs. Where do they turn?
Renee Fuller:
That backpack program has now been replaced by the school pantry program. We did that because we are able to serve many more students that way. The backpack program really had a great result, but most of the time, you could only help maybe 20 to 30 children in a school district at a time. So, now with the school pantry, you can help 20 to 30 school children a day or more. As you said, children rely on schools for their breakfast and lunch, sometimes snacks, some even were doing dinners. When the schools went remote, that made another hardship on the families, because then they had those children home and they had to feed them.
Some of the schools did create a way to still get food to the children through their school pantries. We did do a few distributions at some schools as well, too, and that helped. But that extra burden really made a difference on those families, because when your children are home, they’re not just eating breakfast or lunch. There are some snacks in there that they want, like we do, too. So, that’s a whole other problem that people are facing. Thank goodness for the school pantries and the school personnel that stepped up to try to figure out ways to get food out to those families as fast as possible. When they worked with us, we helped make a lot of that happen with them.
Steve Stack:
The situation we found ourselves in over the last couple of years has really pushed a lot of companies and organizations to the limit. Before I ask you the next question I have in mind, I want to tell people that you don’t have to volunteer 40 hours a week, or even 20 hours a week. You might have availability in your own personal schedule to where Renee can find something for you to do for four hours a day, one particular day of the week or two days of the week.
Renee Fuller:
Boy, can I.
Steve Stack:
Right. I have my reasons for involvement and an appreciation of what you folks do, but go ahead in your own words, tell folks why would they want to become involved? I know you have a heck of a team down there. It’s not a team, it’s like here at Baird. It’s a family.
Renee Fuller:
First, we’re so proud of what we do. I don’t think you can come in to do what we’re doing without feeling like you’re helping someone. You might be helping your neighbor down the street that you don’t even know needs any assistance, because most of the time people will keep that private and don’t want to ask for help. So, you cannot even begin to imagine how many people you could be helping. The child down the street that maybe comes to play with your own children may be going home and not have anything to eat, like what your family is able to have. So, just the philanthropy part of giving back, whether it’s your time or other ways to help.
Even if you aren’t able to come help at the food bank, if you know of someone that maybe needs a ride to go to get their food, that’s been a big hurdle for a lot of families. We would get a lot of phone calls from places where people were, or even people themselves saying, “I’m afraid to go out. Or, “I can’t go out. Is there someone that can deliver?” Or, “I don’t have a car. I don’t have a ride.” So, by helping them do things like that, you’re helping the food bank as well. So, you don’t necessarily even have to be at the food bank to help, there are things that you can do outside of the food bank. Food drive donations are a big help to us.
There’s No Wrong Way to Food Drive
Renee Fuller:
I always stress with people that want to do food drives (we have different companies do it, schools do it, individuals do it), there’s no right or wrong. The things that people need are not always the regular staples that we always say that we need. Sure, we need those all the time. But think outside the box. When you go shopping, what do you like to get? So, maybe put that into the perspective of, “Well, this family might like to have some of these items.” Including paper products, hygiene products. A lot of those things are very costly. We get a lot of products in, but there are a lot of things that we don’t have access to or we have limited access to.
So, by people doing food drives and bringing things to us, that gets things out to those different pantries. When people go to those pantries, they get to see some items that they don’t expect to see. They’re always going to see their macaroni and cheese there, peanut butter, maybe canned tuna, pasta, cereals and juices, but it’s nice to have a fun cake mix, maybe. It might be very helpful for some hygiene products or some paper towels, soaps, things like that. So, we do take pretty much any of that, because then we can pass that along.
I, myself, have worked at a pantry before as a volunteer and seen the looks on the faces of the people when they see something new and different in there. They get so excited. It almost makes them feel like, “I am able to get some other things from my family that I didn’t expect to get here today.”
Your Food Donation Makes a Difference
Renee Fuller:
One story really had such an effect on me. When I was volunteering at the one pantry that I was involved in, there was a lady that had come in with her little girl. Pantries get baked goods in there from time to time. A lot of our baked goods are things we get brought to us or we’ll pick up from grocery stores like Sam’s Club, Walmart, Giant Eagle, and their bakery departments. They might have some things that might be close to the expiration date, maybe they have surplus food in the bakery, or maybe the cake slid in the box and the one side isn’t so pretty. I don’t know about you, but I would still eat it if it wasn’t as pretty.
So, this lady was there with her young child and there was a really cute cupcake set — if you’ve ever seen the ones that they’ve done in a shape like at Sam’s Club for example. It was really cute but a couple of cupcakes were a little off on the side. She grabbed the box and she started crying. Turns out, it was her daughter’s birthday that day. She didn’t know what she was going to do for her birthday. She wanted to celebrate it, but she really didn’t have the funds to go and get something like that, let alone worry about a gift. She was so emotional because that solved a little bit of a problem for her. So, just think of things like that. Stuff that will just make people happy.
It just really makes a difference. When you go to the store, when we have Feed Our Valley and we’re collecting in the stores or Harvest for Hunger and you put something in those collection boxes, it could be anything that you think of. “I want to make sure somebody gets this and bring a smile to somebody’s face today.”
Steve Stack:
You know what? I’m listening and paying attention to what you’re saying. A couple of thoughts came to my mind. You said cake mix. My mind automatically went to, “what kid doesn’t like brownies?”
Renee Fuller:
Sure.
Steve Stack:
Right?
Renee Fuller:
Or that Funfetti cake mix where you get to put the sprinkles in.
Steve Stack:
Exactly. Something that simple. I’m thinking of the support group that you folks have. It could be a retiree that might be looking for a little something to do. Folks, go to the website for Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley and take a look, just familiarize yourself with the program. I’ve done it and have the benefit of a relationship with you folks. It takes the volunteers, from the girl at the reception desk, to past or present business owners of the Valley to help in your administrative approach. “Okay, this is what we have to work with.” There’s a business mindset. And you have those people in place on your board of directors.
Renee Fuller:
Yes, we do. We have a very good board of directors from a little bit of every segment.
Steve Stack:
Exactly. When we talk about volunteers, they’re folks that have retired from secretarial positions to presidents of some major corporations in the Valley, and everywhere in between. If you think you can help out, this is a place you can help out. It’s amazing. You mentioned a couple of your major food drives. Another one that we love to support is Taste of the Valley.
Renee Fuller:
Yes.
Steve Stack:
Talk a little bit about Taste of the Valley.
Taste of the Valley Fundraiser
Renee Fuller:
Well, Taste of the Valley is going to be in its 30th year this year. We had to skip a year, unfortunately, in 2020 because of the pandemic. We almost skipped last year. We just wanted to keep people safe and socially distant.
The Taste of the Valley is where local restaurants will come in and basically prepare food. They can compete in different categories of appetizer, main course, dessert, and then just overall. That overall also includes how they decorate their space. We have it every year at Stambaugh Auditorium on the first Sunday in October. We usually would have between 500 to 600 people. That includes volunteers because, again, our volunteers are our core help. They set up and make sure everything goes smoothly there for us.
So, when we did it this past year, we cut that down in half. We weren’t sure if we wanted to do it that way, but we thought, “You know what? Let’s try.” Normally, we have about 20 different restaurants and beverage providers. This year, we were down to 12. That speaks volumes of what a lot of our friends in the restaurant business and food industry are going through and continue to go through. Yet, there were still ones that were able to still either run their business and be there at the same time or if they happen to be closed on Sundays, just to even have the amount of help, because they will have the food there for people to go around, taste and be judged. There’s a panel of judges that select the winners, but it also gets them a little more notoriety. For example, you may not know that there’s this restaurant in your area, you might taste something that you have never had before and think, “Wow, that’s great. I want to go there.”
It was a little struggle for everyone this year, but we pulled it off. We’re hoping when we do it this October, we can go back a little bit higher in the numbers, but we also didn’t mind it being like that. It was a little more intimate, but it is one of our big events that we just really, really love, because we usually have a silent auction and a basket raffle. It’s just a nice way for people to come together, sit and see what is out there and available in our Valley. People don’t even realize how many different, great restaurants we have.
Steve Stack:
I’ve had the privilege to attend a few different times. This past year, I was out of town and I missed it. I was very disappointed. It’s a win-win. If you are coming as a ticket purchaser and enjoying the restaurants putting out an amazing display, it is just that. It is called Taste of the Valley. Whether you’re seated at a table, whether you’re the owner of the restaurant, whether it’s an established restaurant or an up-and-coming restaurant, they’re winning. They get the exposure to a lot of people that evening who, when they leave, are saying, “You won’t believe what I had last night at Taste of the Valley.” As soon as they hit the door at work on Monday. Right? But more importantly, I know that particular evening is one of your larger fundraisers though.
Renee Fuller:
Yeah. That usually brings us in about $50,000, which is very, very helpful.
Steve Stack:
And that translates to how many meals?
Renee Fuller:
300,000.
Steve Stack:
That amazes me. It’s not that you guys have that buying power to take that dollar amount and convert it into portions or servings and meals. It’s the money that’s generated at Taste of the Valley and Harvest for Hunger, some of your larger fundraisers. I know we have invited you folks out in our partnership. We, too, have had to change the last couple of years. We have not been able to host our Red, White and True event, which is our fall festival of American craftsmanship. We always enjoy having you folks there. It’s an easy day for us as a company to leverage the people a little bit.
Our approach that day is that as we’re serving hot dogs, hamburgers and donuts, we’re putting a little jar next to that service counter. And we’ve had success. Then, we also collect non-perishable food donations that day. It’s a win-win, again, because people come to our festival and say, “Second Harvest of the Valley, what’s this about?” It might be their first time being introduced to you folks. We enjoy that so much. We look forward to going down the road and getting back to normal, where we can have those types of events again. And it’s huge. Like I said, whether it’s a pallet of food or whether it’s literally a grocery bag sack of food being donated-
Renee Fuller:
Every little bit helps. It’s that much more that we didn’t have a few minutes ago.
How to Get Involved With the Food Bank
Steve Stack:
We touched on it a little bit, but just to recap, if folks want to get involved and give back to the community, there’s an array of ways to do it. Take the folks through.
Renee Fuller:
Sure. If you want to donate money, there are several different ways. Just put a check in the mail. You can also go right to our website, mahoningvalleysecondharvest.org. At the opening page at the very top is a blue button that says “donate”. It’s a secure portal for donations that go directly into our system. You can donate directly there.
You can call us to donate over the phone and we’ll take your credit card information. You can stop by and drop off a check, cash, or anything. You can also stop by and drop off food donations. If it’s a larger amount, it would be more helpful if you called us first. That way we can make sure that we can help you get the food out of your car, whether it’s one of us getting a grocery cart, or if it’s a larger amount, we’ll get the guys involved and have you pull up to one of the dock areas. But there are so many different ways.
If anyone thinks of anything that they’re not sure if we could use, or that they could do for us, you could call us. Our number is (330) 792-5522. We’ll work something out or figure something out with you, including volunteering. We do have a little bit of a waiting list like I said, but we are always looking for extra help. Once we’re able to open up fully and have more help in there, we’ll want to get moving on that pretty quickly. So, I’m starting to keep a list. We can gladly add to that list.
We usually can take up to about 15 volunteers at one time, space-wise. If we needed social distance, that still gives us enough space for that. Then when we don’t have to social distance, we might be able to go up to as far as 20 volunteers at one time for groups.
But basically, we’ll take any help that you can think of as far as doing a food drive or a fund drive. If you have a fun idea or a different idea that you want to run by us and need our help with anything, we have the boxes there for you to collect. We can come up with ideas for you. We have posters. We’re open to any new ideas, and we can give you some new ideas that maybe you hadn’t thought about that have worked for other places.
Steve Stack:
I’m glad you touched on that end of it because I was going to ask. For any businesses out there that may be joining us today, you don’t throw a ton of extra work on that business to participate in one of your fund drives or food drives. Get in contact with Renee. And really, you mentioned it, it could be as simple as placing a couple of collection totes throughout your business. Do you have any initiatives coming up?
Renee Fuller:
Very soon. We have Harvest for Hunger that we’ve talked about a little bit. That’s one of our biggest campaigns. That is going to start on March 1. It’s going to actually go a little longer this year. It’s going to go until May 31. It’s all for food banks in northeast Ohio that participate in this. So, it’s not just us. It’s Akron, Canton, Cleveland, and then the Lorraine Food Bank with us.
So, you’ll be seeing the posters, signage, and collection bins for food in the Sparkle Market stores. Then the Giant Eagle stores will be doing money collections. Sparkle Markets will also, too. They call it Checkout Hunger, if anyone is familiar with that. That will be coming up.
There’s always a rush of food coming in from Feed Our Valley because most people think about donating during the holidays, since we don’t want someone to go without food during the holidays. People go without food all year long. So, there’s always a need. Harvest for Hunger is when we basically use that to restock all of our food drives and other surplus food in the warehouse. Right now we have some supply issues, which is a whole other factor, but it’s nice to be able to get some extra things coming in.
So, for Harvest for Hunger, we have outside food drives and fund drives that go on. That’s just as important as what Sparkle and Giant Eagle are doing to help us. So again, that starts March 1 and it will end May 31. A lot of times we’ll have schools that will get involved and some businesses. We have some fun ideas for some competitions. We like to do competitions. Especially if we got a couple of schools to compete against each other, we have some really big stars out there for schools that will throw down, collect, and try to beat their record each year. So, that makes it a lot of fun. But sometimes, at a business, whether you use it like a game, a basketball game, that’s going on and say, “I’m for this team. I’m for that team.” They have a collection and do something along those lines and make it competitive. That’s when it really gets to be a lot of fun. And we love that.
Steve Stack:
Yeah, definitely. So, you make it as easy as possible to help.
Renee Fuller:
Oh, for sure.
Steve Stack:
I hope through our conversation today, ladies and gentlemen, we’ve given you a little encouragement to get involved with Second Harvest Food Bank of the Valley, whether it be on the local level, the national level, there’s a need. And to borrow one of your slogans, and I love it, “Together we can make a difference.”
Renee Fuller:
Yes, for sure. And the difference can be very small. Some people will say, “Well, I only have a dollar.” A dollar provides up to six meals.
Steve Stack:
That’s amazing.
Renee Fuller:
So, because of what we’re able to do with that, we’re a member of Feeding America. So, we really can stretch that dollar far. But if you can’t do that and you’re cleaning out your cabinets thinking, “Oh, I have food that I don’t need or food that I can’t tell if it’s expired or not.” That’s what we do at the warehouse. Our volunteers in the back go through all of those donations and determine whether or not it is safe to go out to someone.
Steve Stack:
When you go down there, folks, they don’t just throw you out in the warehouse and say, “Do this, do that.” They take the time to explain expiration dates and food safety to you.
Renee Fuller:
It’s not what you and I think they are. That’s what’s amazing.
Steve Stack:
I mean, that was a big thing. Plus, the breakdown of the larger volumes of this and that. So, please volunteer, but know darn well that when you go down there, you’re going to be treated like kings and queens because they appreciate your help that much. So, get involved, make a difference. Renee, before we part, is there anything else you’d like to say?
Renee Fuller:
I just want to say thank you to everyone that helps us already in the Mahoning Valley. We have so many good, generous people in our area. We can’t continue to do what we do without all of you and how much you care. People have really, really risen to the challenge, especially these last couple of years, to help their neighbors, their friends, and their family. From the bottom of our hearts, we say thank you. Like he said, together we can make a difference so no one goes hungry.
Steve Stack:
Renee, thank you for the visit today.
Renee Fuller:
Thank you so much.
Steve Stack:
When you get back, make sure you give Mike and the team our best wishes. We look forward to our continued, great partnership with Second Harvest of the Valley.
Folks, this was a good one. I like this one. So, stay tuned on all of the social platforms, bairdbrothers.com, Content Studio. Visit Second Harvest Food Bank on the web and get involved. But for now, thanks. We’ll see you soon.
Stay Tuned For More From Our Content Studio
Steve Stack:
For all you folks listening, thanks for talking shop with Baird Brothers Fine Hardwoods. If you’ve enjoyed this episode and wanted to stay up-to-date with the American Hardwood Advisor podcast series, give us a like and subscribe. For more tips, projects, and inspiration, check us out on Facebook, Instagram, read our tweets, or visit bairdbrothers.com. Until next time.
Second Harvest is committed to doing whatever it can to provide hunger relief in the community. That means distributing nutritious food to nearly every neighborhood in Mahoning Valley, leveraging every available food resource, and collaborating with organizations and people who share our belief that no one goes hungry. As a member of Feeding America, Second Harvest provided 10.6 million pounds of food to kids, seniors, and families in need during 2021.
Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley Contact Information:
Call the Food Bank: 330-792-5522
Call the Help Network: 2-1-1
Text “Help Network” to 898211
Visit their website: https://mahoningvalleysecondharvest.org/find-help/
