Ohio Association of Foodbanks

The ohio can (community agriculture and nutrition) project was funded by a u.s. department of agriculture local food purchase assistance program (lfpa) cooperative agreement and operated in partnership with the ohio departments of job and family services and agriculture. through ohio can, with $10.7 million, the ohio association of foodbanks purchased 4.2 million pounds of in-demand food products wholly grown, produced, and minimally processed by local, historically underserved farmers, producers, and suppliers and distributed those foods to underserved ohioans in partnership with ohio's foodbanks. in total, more than 150 local farmers, growers, and suppliers participated in ohio can and the association also partnered with six statewide food hubs and aggregators to procure foods from historically underserved local vendors and support a resilient local food supply chain. ohio can supplied more than 3.5 million wholesome meals to food insecure ohioans. future federal lfpa funding was terminated in early 2025 and ohio can ended, with all funds expended, on june 30, 2025.

The ohio association of foodbanks operates two health care outreach and enrollment programs funded through cooperative agreements with the centers for medicare and medicaid services, the affordable care act (aca) navigator program and the connecting kids to coverage (ckc) program. trained, licensed, and certified navigators and ckc application counselors help to connect ohioans with affordable health care coverage. the get covered ohio campaign raises awareness about available health coverage options and navigator and ckc services.

The federal national service agency, americorps, funds the ohio association of foodbanks to operate an americorps vista program. vista members are placed at dozens of non-profit and community organizations where they enagage in capacity building activities like fundraising, volunteer recruitment, and program design. americorps also provided funding for a seniorcorps demonstration project, which ended in this fiscal year. americorps provides funds to serveohio, ohio's commission on service and volunteerism, to support americorps state and national programs. the ohio association of foodbanks was awarded a planning grant by serveohio to prepare an evidence-based program design for the future launch of an americorps state program.in partnership with the usda food and nutrition service, the ohio department of job and family services, and 10 ohio foodbanks, the ohio association of foodbanks operates supplemental nutrition assistance program (snap) outreach and application assistance activities to connect ohio households that are likely eligible with these federal nutrition assistance benefits.in partnership with the ohio department of development and its partner, the veterans comprehensive assistance program, the ohio association of foodbanks conducts home energy assistance program (heap) outreach and application assistance activities to connect likely eligible ohio households with this utility assistance program.the governor's office of faith-based and community initiatives provided reduced funding to the ohio association of foodbanks to support a limited number of mobile farmers markets for families with children during summer break to supplement meals available through the federal summer food service program.the ohio association of foodbanks partnered with the ohio department of job and family services and osu extension on the state of ohio's snap education plan, connecting nutrition education specialists and food assistance providers with educational and informational resources for hungry families and partnering on outreach and education events.