OPW in Cincinnati, Ohio, conducted its second annual food drive for Shared Harvest, a foodbank that serves more than 360,000 people across five counties in Ohio. The non-profit collects, warehouses, transports and distributes contributions of surplus food and other grocery-style products to more than 80 food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and similar non-profits that provide either hot meals or bags of groceries to people in emergency need. Annually, Shared Harvest distributes an average of ten million pounds of groceries through its charitable network.
“Hunger relief is not easy work. It’s a lot of lifting, stocking, sorting, paperwork, hearing the heartbreaking stories of people who have nowhere else to turn for food,” said Tina Osso, Executive Director of Shared Harvest Foodbank. “But it is so much easier to do when we have such great support by companies like OPW. Every dollar provides seven meals to someone in need right here at home. It is the partnerships like OPW and the Dover Foundation that make our work the joy that it is.”
This year, OPW employees collected more than 500 lbs. of food and monetary donations for Shared Harvest, which the management team matched for a total of 1,150 lbs. that was delivered to the foodbank ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
“Supporting Shared Harvest is a great way for our employees to give back to the Greater Cincinnati communities where we live and work,” said Kevin Long, President of OPW. “It’s as simple as bringing in a canned good or making a monetary donation, but together, our collection makes a big difference for our neighbors in need.”
In addition to conducting the food drive, OPW presented Shared Harvest with a corporate donation of $2,500, which was matched by The Dover Foundation.