Washington County, OH – As mentioned in a previous article, Marietta Community Foundation has created a COVID-19 Community Plan to make sure citizens of Washington County have access to the care and resources they need during this time.

Whereas Phase One of the community plan focused on supporting our senior population, Phase Two will focus on the broader population.

As State and Federal regulations continue to increase due to COVID-19, more people are experiencing or anticipating lost wages. The State has taken measures to make unemployment more accessible to the public, however, unemployment will only go so far.

 “We want to approach each phase tactfully,” said Heather Allender, President & CEO of the Foundation. “In Phase One we wanted to focus our attention on the most vulnerable. Now, in Phase Two, we want to help as many people and households as possible by stocking our local food pantries who are already being overwhelmed by demand.”

To prevent local food insecurity, the Foundation has granted $10,000 to be used to stock each food pantry across Washington County. Warren's I.G.A. is supplying the orders at a highly-discounted rate and Washington County Harvest of Hope (HOH) will use their vehicles to transport the food to the 13 local pantries.

“I.G.A. stores have the motto that we are Hometown Proud,” said Mike Morrison, Plaza Manager at Warren’s I.G.A. “We are thrilled for the opportunity to participate in programs that benefit people right here in our own communities who are in need.”

Due to the age range of many volunteers, the Foundation’s staff will be going through the training with HOH to make the deliveries themselves. They are inviting younger members of the community, who show no symptoms of COVID-19, to join them in these volunteer efforts.

“We are happy to partner, once again, with Marietta Community Foundation and Warren’s I.G.A. to help food pantries at this critical time,” said Susan Allender, Executive Director of Washington County Harvest of Hope.

Last year, Marietta Community Foundation, Peoples Bank Foundation, HOH, and Warren’s I.G.A. partnered in a similar venture during the government shutdown. Together, they supplied and delivered over 8,000 pounds of food to local pantries and are hoping to do the same this time around (see pictures above).

Sherry Hill, Director at Greater Marietta Community Food Pantry, said, “This couldn’t come at a better time. On any given day, our freezers are normally full, but right now at least one is completely empty. We have been serving three times the amount of clients than we normally do and we see new families each day.”

Marietta Community Foundation works to improve Washington County through grants and initiatives, if you want to assist with the COVID-19 Community Plan or volunteer with a local nonprofit in need, please contact Heather Allender at 740-373-3286 or heather@mcfohio.org.