IN THE NEWS: Remember Those Battling Hunger This Season of Giving
(Editor’s note: This is the first in a four-part series of op-eds by Olean Food Pantry board members in preparation for the Season of Giving. It first appeared in the Olean Times Herald and was featured in several other prominent local news outlets.)
By Ashley Greeley
Olean Food Pantry board member
As we approach the holiday season, I can’t help but reflect on the deep gratitude so many of us feel during this time of year. For many, it’s a season of joy filled with warmth, family gatherings, festive meals and exchanging gifts.
But for thousands in our communities, this season only serves as a reminder of what they’re missing: food, security and stability. While I feel lucky, my heart aches for those going without.
Olean Food Pantry has seen a doubling of pantry clients for nearly a half-decade. Need during the holiday season skyrockets with families struggling to put something – anything – on the table for kids and loved ones who deserve to feel that spirit.
This Season of Giving here at OFP, we’re not only focused on feeding families for the holidays, but also for the next 10 years. As secretary of the Board of Directors, I have the privilege of serving behind the scenes to keep our pantry running. Some of these activities include tracking grants and filing follow-up reports to funders so we can keep getting resources for the front lines of the War on Hunger.
The need is greater than ever.
We live in communities that pride themselves on taking care of our own and pulling our own weight. The concept of a “handout,” for some, is borderline taboo. It’s a rural pride thing, guided by some principle similar to “The Lord helps those who help themselves.”
Yet, as we enter this Season of Giving, there are too many among us struggling just to get by. Families who are doing everything they can to help themselves, but still facing empty cupboards. Children who depend on the meals they receive at school because they aren’t guaranteed a dinner at home. Seniors who saved for decades, but are still forced to make the heartbreaking choice between paying for medication or food.
It can be easy to assume that hunger only happens elsewhere, in impoverished cities and third-world countries far removed from our daily lives. But food insecurity can be found literally everywhere in Cattaraugus County and throughout rural New York. It’s quiet, often hidden, which makes it even more devastating.
According to the most recent New York State Department of Health Report on Food Insecurity Among Adults, nearly 25% of the population in our region is facing hunger. That’s 1 in 4 people experiencing real consequences of food insecurity. That’s no food in the cupboard and no money to buy more until next payday – if there is a next payday.
While the holidays magnify these struggles, the truth is that hunger is just as real in March as it is in December.
Resources are key. The vicious cycle of hunger and poverty makes it even harder for people to get them. Donations, grants and support from the corporate community allow us to keep securing those resources on their behalf. We can do this only through the generosity of people like you – who believe, as we do, that no one should go to bed hungry.
What we do at Olean Food Pantry is about so much more than handing out food. It’s about providing hope and dignity to those who need it most. We don’t just see a client — we see our neighbors, friends and community members. During this Giving Season, we have an opportunity to show them that they are not forgotten.
I urge you to think about how you can make a difference. Donate to Olean Food Pantry’s $1 Million Fundraising Campaign, which aims to secure a stable food supply for the next decade so we can focus on systemic solutions. Or maybe your greatest contribution could be simply spreading the word and reminding others that hunger is a real and urgent issue in our own backyard.
Donate today at www.oleanfoodpantry.org/donate.
(Ashley Greeley is secretary of the Olean Food Pantry Board of Directors. She can be reached at oleanfoodpantry@yahoo.com.)
