Childhood Food Solutions-- April Mission of the Month

Childhood Food Solutions is Lakeview’s mission for the month of April.  This small local program provides food for hungry children in the Roll Hill neighborhood and surrounding areas on Cincinnati’s West Side. The focus of food distribution is on weekends, holidays and summer breaks, when school nutrition programs are typically not available.  Public school food programs only account for 178 days a year, leaving 187 days when many children miss meals and go to bed hungry. The program was started by Executive Director, Tony Fairhead, Lisa Hyde-Miller, Board Chair, and Angela Anno in 2007, by focusing on a couple of schools in a single zip code, 45225. Lakeview has supported this program through our mission giving for several years.

The program expanded over the years, but the Covid 19 Pandemic caused a change in the program model. While sacks of food are still sent home weekly with students in the immediate Roll Hill area, since 2020, shelf-stable boxes of food have been delivered to the homes of students in a wider area.  This enables those delivering the food to ask families if more food is needed.  When this is the case, arrangements are made for additional boxes of food to be delivered. This model of food delivery has increased the costs of the program but has been more helpful in meeting the food needs of children and their families in a very low-income area of Cincinnati.  The program contracts with Goodwill to have their clients pack the food boxes, for a modest fee. The food boxes are filled with a standard list of foods, purchased through donations and grants, with occasional supplementation of fresh fruit, when available.

The overall mission of the program has not changed: To find solutions for children running out of food, with the hope that these solutions can and will be duplicated by other organizations locally, statewide, and beyond.

The problem of childhood hunger is immense and has worsened post-pandemic with a reduction in SNAP (food stamp) benefits and inflation. Since 2022 CFS periodically surveys those receiving the food boxes.  Survey results show that over 60% of respondents report “less stress” in their family lives since receiving the food boxes. CFS recently received an award from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital for “the most innovative problem solving” among a group of poster presenters. We are privileged to continue to monetarily assist Childhood Food Solutions in meeting the nutritional needs of children.

To learn more about this mission, you may contact Linda Overholt.