What’s the issue? Last year, it became clear that the economic crisis was having a devastating effect on local families and the nonprofits that serve them. What did we do to respond? In November 2008, The Greater Cincinnati Foundation (GCF) created the Heat & Eat Fund and allocated $256,000 for emergency food, heat, rent and utility assistance. Grants were made to food pantries and other nonprofits that provide these emergency services across GCF’s eight-county region. “With job losses, foreclosures, increasingfood and energy costs, more people findthemselves standing in food pantry lines for the first time in their lives,” said Tina Osso, executive director of Shared Harvest Foodbank in Butler and Warren counties. “Food pantries are routinely running out of food, some are reducing the hours they are open, some reducing the amount of food they give each family, some giving up all together and closing their doors for good.”
The community joined us After making its initial grant, GCF sent a critical needs alert to friends and supporters asking them to join us in supporting our neighbors. More than $200,000 was raised thanks to many individuals and private foundations including the Farmer Family Fund of GCF, The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation and The Andrew Jergens Foundation. More than $107,000 in additional funds were given by donors directly to individual agencies as a result of the Heat & Eat appeal.
“Challenges in the economy have already started to take a significant toll on our community’s most vulnerable people, including those who are unemployed, have lost jobs, or who work in jobs that don’t cover basic living expenses,” Kathryn E. Merchant, GCF’s President/CEO, said. “The need for food and heat is not just a problem during the holidays; it will continue throughout the winter.”
The results A total of $566,375 was distributed to a total of 18 agencies. (Please see list below.) While GCF is still receiving results from these grants, Jeffrey Diver shared how the grants had helped his agency.
“The Heat and Eat grant funds have made a real life or death difference for many Butler County families,” Diver, executive director of Supports to Low-Income Families (SELF) of Butler County, said. “Many who would have fallen between the cracks of other programs and been left in the cold have instead been able to stay warm. We are extremely grateful for these funds. Many low-income seniors and people with disabilities have been assisted. One elderly woman with a medical condition had her heat turned back on during the one of the coldest spells. Thanks to the Heat and Eat funds; truly, we may have saved her life. The flexibility that GCF has given SELF to help those in greatest need has made all the difference.”
For more information on the Heat & Eat Fund, contact Helen Mattheis at mattheish (a) gcfdn.org
