About Us

History

Mission & Vision

Staff

Recognizing a Need

The Food Bank began in the early 1980s when a group of lay people and religious community leaders realized that while people were going hungry, companies were throwing away thousands of pounds of unused but still nutritious edible food. An effort began to get these companies to donate food to one central location in order to ease distribution to the many local charities already engaged in the fight against hunger. The Food Assistance Warehouse was incorporated as a 501(c)3 charitable organization in December of 1982 and began operating as a clearinghouse for large quantities of food.

In 1994, our local Food Bank became a certified member of America's Second Harvest, now known as Feeding America. Our food donations come from a variety of sources. Government support provides us with USDA Commodities and produce through the Ohio Agricultural Surplus Production Alliance. Feeding America Food Banks are the designated recipient of all major food manufacturers including Nabisco, Kellogg's and retailers including Target and Kmart. Locally, Second Harvest also receives donations from Giant Eagle, Aldi's and Sparkle Markets.

Each day, Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley distributes approximately 35,000 pounds of food to 151 hunger relief organizations in Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties including church pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, shelters for battered women and after-school programs. In 2009, our distribution was 7.4 million pounds of food including over 2.3 million pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables. Second Harvest Food Bank has been evaluated in relation to the 20 BBB Standards for Charitable Accountability and meets all standards.

Donor Confidentiality:
It is the policy of Second Harvest Food Bank to maintain the highest level of confidentiality with respect to donor information. We will not share donor names, addresses or fund-related financial information with any individual or organization outside of the Food Bank.

From time to time, donor names may be listed in Food Bank publications, but only after written notification is provided. In all cases, donors are given the option of remaining anonymous.