We wrapped up another busy month here at Dublin Food Pantry. The Easter Bunny even sent a scout to see how we are doing. Hopefully we get a good report! For the month, we served 974 pantry visits–a whopping 32 percent increase of the February 2023 total of 737 visits. Adjusting for the additional service date for Leap Day, we were still up nearly 28 percent. Either way, we were pretty busy by historical standards.
In our spare time, we spent an afternoon participating in the Dublin Community Health Advisory Committee meeting, where we discussed barriers to healthcare access (transportation!), the benefits of and need for community spaces for recreation and exercise, and the role places like Dublin Food Pantry play as a way to connect our most vulnerable households with helpful resources.
We welcomed the community to the pantry for the Snowball Carnival sponsored by Rotaract Dublin and featuring a free lunch from Sunny Street Cafe. We didn’t have any snow, but we had lots of fun and games and were delighted to show our space to several of our guests.
Our friends at Davis Middle School invited us to participate in their Community Night on Thursday, February 15. We got to tell parents, kids, and other community partners all about what we do and how we do it (spoiler alert: we can’t do it without you!).
This group from Friendship Village of Dublin came for a tour of our new facility on Tuesday, February 20. We are grateful for the generous support of Friendship Village residents for Dublin Food Pantry and the many other worthy causes they put their time and energy into. Their enthusiasm and leadership in providing philanthropic and volunteer support throughout the nonprofit community is an example we can all follow!
We stopped by to say hello and give a huge thank you to our friends at Scott’s Custom Jewelers for their recent donations in support of our mission. The staff is generous with their gifts and were extremely generous with their time explaining their mission and philosophy as a business. If you are looking for a first-rate experience and extensive education in the world of jewelry, stop at Scott’s. You won’t be disappointed!
We wrapped up our month enjoying breakfast at the fabulous OhioHealth David P. Blom Administrative Campus, where we were treated to the regional economic forecast. Presented by our very own Dublin Chamber of Commerce, the event was highlighted by a presentation by Bill LaFayette, Ph.D. What can we expect in the year(s) ahead? Growth–if we can accommodate it. What’s holding us back? Interestingly enough, we are in the enviable position of needing people for jobs.
Our biggest challenge in Dublin and throughout the region is making sure people who can fill those roles have a place to live. Housing and transportation continue to be central themes in every local economic discussion. Our Dublin Food Pantry customers are feeling the crunch of paying a high percentage of their income to cover housing costs. One of many reasons we are here.
We wouldn’t be here without the support of the donors mentioned here and many, many others who believe in what we do and care about this community. To make a donation to Dublin Food Pantry, click the button below. To learn more about what we do, how we do it, and how the emergency food system works to eliminate food insecurity, email Interim Executive Director Sean Becker at director@dublinfoodpantry.org.