Food distributions are scheduled for today and tomorrow in Ohio County thanks to Ohio County Schools and several local non-profit organizations in the Wheeling area.
Meal distributions for students of the county’s school system begins at 11 a.m. at 17 different locations, and the Bethlehem Apostolic Temple in North Wheeling will offer drive-through service from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. for residents to gain a week’s worth of food for a family of four.
The need, because of job loss connected to the COVID-19 coronavirus, has never been higher according to the executive director of the Ohio County Family Resource Network.
“Right now, we are seeing people in the middle class who are in need because they have lost their jobs, and so many people are still waiting for their stimulus checks and the unemployment to arrive to their mail boxes or bank account,” Raymer explained. “A lot of those people have never had to access these services, so they really don’t know how any of it works. For the people who have never had to navigate it before, it’s a difficult process to learn all of the policies that are in place right now.
“We want all of the people who need to food to get it. That has been our number one goal from the very beginning,” she said. “Some of these feeding organizations are taking meals to the senior high rises so it’s as convenient as possible for those older people, and Meals on Wheels iataking more clients on right now because they currently have that ability.”
Early Issues
The 5,000 students enrolled in Ohio County Schools have been offered a free breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday during the academic year for several years, and groups like Grow Warwood Pride have initiated collections and distributions for children on the weekends.
But when W.Va. Gov. Jim Justice closed the state’s public schools in mid-March, food insecurity for the children became an immediate issue. Superintendent Dr. Kim Miller organized the pick-up points the following week but safety issues were realized quickly and changes were necessary.
“When we saw what took place with the very first meal distribution by Ohio County Schools, we became concerned about the food insecurity issue not only for the children but for a lot of people in this area who are in need of assistance,” Raymer said. “The school system had to temporarily stop so they could take a step back and figure out the best way to do what they knew they had to do.
“When that took place, the other places offering food like the Greater Wheeling Soup Kitchen and Catholic Charities became inundated with people in need of food. That made it very clear very quickly that we needed to get together and figure it out,” she explained. “We had to figure out how we could reach all of the people, and we feel we have figured out ways to help the people who need the help.”
Fortunate Folks
Ohio County Schools, Catholic Charities, Sisters of St. Joseph, the Soup Kitchen, Family Services, Community Foundation, House of the Carpenter, Information Helpline, Grow OV, and the Wheeling Chamber of Commerce.
Representatives from each of those organizations began collaborating with Raymer very soon after Dr. Miller suspended distribution, and solutions were discovered quickly thanks to food a collection program already in place, and the formation of new efforts, too.
“We have a ZOOM meeting once a week, and we just talk about what’s missing and what we can do to fill those gaps,” Raymer said. “Right now, we are trying to figure out what happens for the children once the schools are no longer responsible for meal distribution, and that date is set for May 22. Will the federal and state governments do something? That’s a question we need an answer to in the very near future.
“And we are currently asking where the summer feeding programs need to be located so we can provide the best access as we can for the food that will be available,” she said. “Do we do it for five days a week or just one like Ohio County Schools has been doing for several weeks? That’s where we are right now, and what we need is the information about the access so we can make sure we can get food to all the people we need to get it to.”
So yes, very fortunate.
“As far as Ohio County is concerned, we are very lucky, especially if you look at other parts of the state of West Virginia,” she said. “We work as a team so we can make sure we are meeting the needs. That’s not the case in other areas, and those folks are really struggling.”
