Cleveland County makes $10,000 donation to Everyone Eats Emergency Fund Drive

Staff reports | Press Release

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Cleveland County has made a donation of $10,000 to support the Everyone Eats Emergency Food Fund Drive, spearheaded by Healthy Together Cleveland (HTC) to combat food insecurity in the county. Donations to this effort will be used to support Washington Outreach Ministry (WOM), a local nonprofit organization which serves as the primary food hub for Cleveland County. To date, HTC has raised $80,110 toward its goal and all donations are tax deductible. More information can be found at https://bit.ly/Every1Eats

“Food insecurity is a real and pressing issue in Cleveland County,” said Kevin Gordon, Chairman of the Cleveland County Board of Commissioners. “We want our residents to know that we stand behind the Everyone Eats initiative and support community-based programs that make a meaningful impact on access to healthy food.”

Washington Outreach Ministry (WOM) serves as the primary food hub for Cleveland County and is being impacted by recent funding cuts. WOM supports 17 food pantries in Cleveland County alone, serves over 15,000 people each month, and is facing a $375,000 shortfall this year.

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“We are deeply thankful to Cleveland County for their generous support of the Everyone Eats initiative,” said Jordan Frye, Project & Program Coordinator for Healthy Together Cleveland. "Every contribution, big or small, makes a meaningful impact, especially now as food pantries face growing challenges in providing food to our neighbors. Every dollar helps us move closer to a community where everyone has access to nutritious food.”

Food insecurity continues to impact thousands of people across Cleveland County, and the need continues to grow. HTC claims an alarming data point that 1 in 6 people in the county are experiencing food insecurity. roughly 16,980 people do not have enough food. Due to recent funding cuts to The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), local food pantries are being impacted.

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