Columbus Ohio 1st Service Platoon Tackles Food Insecurity

Apr 19, 2018

April 19, 2018
By Ian Haynes, City Impact Manager

We had an amazing service project recently in Columbus Ohio to kick off our partnership with the Mid-Ohio Foodbank! Our volunteer operations are focused on combating food insecurity on the Southside of the city through work with an urban farm and multiple food pantries. We had 34 volunteers participate, comprised of 14 veterans and 4 new platoon members. This amounted to 136 service hours in which we completed four projects at two sites.

The event started at the Reeb Ave Center, a great community space on the Southside, with a meet & greet, registration and opening remarks from the Mid-Ohio Foodbank CEO, Matt Habash. From there, volunteers moved out to the service sites!

At the Lighthouse Ministries Food Pantry we:

  • Improved the food pantry’s ability to store and deliver emergency food assistance to Southside residents by removing old carpet, painting walls and replacing broken castors on their food carts.


At the Clarfield Urban Farm we:

  • Created a functional office/multipurpose space for the urban farm staff by patching walls, replacing broken drywall, scraping and painting the walls and ceiling, deep cleaning the floor and repairing a chalkboard.
  • Secured their outdoor produce preparation areas by building a chain link fence.
  • Aided in preparation for the growing season through general farm field work.


The food pantry and urban farm staff were happy with the noticeable difference they saw. But I think the other noticeable outcomes were the true connections the volunteers made with each other as well as the community members they served alongside.

Of course, I cannot thank the volunteers from The Mission Continues and the Mid-Ohio Foodbank enough for making this impact possible. Additional thanks goes to the Marion Franklin Civic Association and the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department. I’d also like to recognize our donors, who fuel our mission.

 

Report for duty in your community with The Mission Continues. Serve with a Service Platoon at an upcoming service event near you or apply for a fellowship. You can learn more about our programs on our website and stay updated on the latest news and announcements on Facebook and Twitter.