Director says food pantry seeing increased need for services

Harvest for the Hungry is appealing to the public for an increase in donations, as the food pantry is seeing a greater need for its services and has encountered several major expenses, director Diane Porter says.

Porter said the number of people served by the food pantry “has gone up 14 percent, year on year.”

She said the monthly donor contribution amount for the pantry are $1,795, while their average monthly utilities are $1,604.

“Our average cost from the food is $3,400 per month,” Porter said of their supplier.

She said this does not factor in things such as repairs, property taxes and insurance.

“We need dedicated monthly donors to equal monthly expenses,” she said.

Porter notes that, just because they are a nonprofit, it does not mean they get a discount on things like utilities.

“It’s like trying to run a small grocery store on donations,” she said.

Porter recently made a pitch on social media for more donors. She noted she has only done this once before, when they sought to purchase their building., located at 120 N. Fifth St. in Ironton.

She said, in the past year, they have lost funding from one group, which had only committed for a year, and provisions used through the COVID-19 pandemic have expired.

She said the food bank operated “100 percent on donations,” and noted recent expenses they have had, such as $4,400 for transmission repair and a $794 maintenance bill for a van, and $1,600 in repairs for a pallet mover.

Harvest for the Hungry provided for 7,110 households in 2024, Porter said. The 18,881 people served by the food bank included 4,301 seniors, 10, 134 adults under 65 and 4,366 children.

In addition to their regular food giveaways throughout the year, the nonprofit also does a large distribution event each year, just before Thanksgiving, providing recipients with enough items to create a full holiday meal.

Porter said donations can be made at www.harvestforthehungry@outlook.com or they can be mailed to P.O. Box 153, Ironton, Ohio 45638.