COLUMBUS, Ohio - Hundreds of helping hands could be lost in Ohio. A budget bill on Capitol Hill would cut funding for people working mostly as volunteers, helping those who need help the most. A House Committee proposes eliminating programs such as AmeriCorps and VISTA, that are administered by the Corporation for National Community Services. Such programs include some 80,000 volunteers.

More than 200 of these workers are deployed by the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks, where executive director Lisa Hamler-Fugitt says they are the "boots on the ground."

"These individuals work on the front line every day, feeding their hungry friends and neighbors, helping to rebuild communities and provide opportunities for individuals who are often afflicted with unemployment, poverty and homelessness."

Besides their work with growing numbers of food bank clients, Hamler-Fugitt says, AmeriCorps and VISTA members help feed tens of thousands of children in summer food and backpack food programs. They also help low-income Ohioans complete their tax returns free of charge.

AmeriCorps is one of the largest employers of 18-to-24-year-olds in the country, paying them a small stipend for social service work. Hamler-Fugitt believes its funding should be significantly increased, because it provides jobs that are desperately needed in Ohio and the rest of the country.

"Our greatest fear is that many of these young people who are committed in serving in these volunteer capacities for a very modest stipend will be forced not only to leave our state, but potentially our country."

The draft of the 2012 Labor, Health and Human Services budget bill that includes the cut will get subcommittee scrutiny before it reaches the full House.


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A fundraising effort is underway for a new community farm in Petersburg.

The Central Virginia Agrarian Commons aims to raise about $137,000 to purchase the roughly five-acre plot, which it will then lease out to a Black-owned farming enterprise for the next 99 years.

Tyrone Cherry III, project co-leader on the Petersburg Oasis CommUNITY Farm, has spent years building and supporting community gardens around the city with the Petersburg League of Urban Growers. He said the new farm would help address the city's issues with food access, but is also an important symbol of growth for the area.

"Petersburg is growing, and this community farm is a testament to that," Cherry asserted. "That's why we're calling it the Petersburg Oasis. We want to remind the community that, yes, we are in a situation that's called a 'food desert,' but we can grow an oasis here in the food desert together."

The farm will be located next to an elementary school where Cherry used to teach. According to the fundraiser's website, the project aims to provide education programs for those students and serve as an incubator and educational resource for early-career farmers.

Duron Chavis, the project's other co-leader, contends the operation will also create numerous environmental benefits for Petersburg. He said farms in urban areas help control stormwater runoff by laying down soil and plant life to capture water, something concrete-based cityscapes cannot do.

"These spaces act like a sponge," Chavis explained. "And are able to keep the water and any pollutants that might come from the streetscape from getting into our rivers and lakes."

Chavis noted the operation will help new farmers access land, one of the biggest hurdles for those looking to enter agriculture. He added they are hoping to split up the property into multiple plots to support early-career farmers.

"How can you develop a customer base and hone your practice and your system of farming if you don't have land that you can reliably be able to farm on for at least a year, two years, three years?" Chavis pointed out.

The organization has raised nearly $63,000 so far. Including the cost of the land and a farm endowment, setting up the Petersburg Oasis CommUNITY Farm will cost about $200,000.

Food banks are struggling to keep up operations as they contend with rising fuel costs, inflation and an uptick in demand driven by the end of pandemic-era food assistance.

Supply-chain issues have tightened the flow of donations at God's Pantry Food Bank in Lexington, said chief executive Mike Halligan, and getting a variety of food products has been a challenge. He said expiration of the Commonwealth's Emergency Health Declaration in the pandemic has stopped supplemental SNAP benefits to households already pinched by cost-of-living increases.

"So their economic impacts are tighter," he said, "and they have to cope with the inflation and the tightening supply chain when they have less benefits to spend."

Nationwide, federal figures show, food insecurity is on the rise, especially among children. In 2020, more than 6 million kids experienced hunger. Kentucky families who need help can text the word "FOOD" or "COMIDA" to 304-304 to find a nearby site to pick up free meals. The food sites are operated by No Kid Hungry Kentucky and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's summer meals program.

Halligan said the cost for fuel for Food Bank trucks to deliver food to communities across central and eastern Kentucky also has risen significantly.

"Our fuel costs are increasing 15.2%, to almost a quarter of a million dollars," he said. "That's up $32,000 from what it was a year ago."

Along with donations, Halligan said food banks are seeking volunteers to help with food distribution during the summer months.

"It's because those with families who are not in school over the summer don't have access to the National School Lunch Program," he said, "and so the food bill for households with kids goes up in the summertime."

Federally funded child nutrition COVID-19 waivers are set to expire on June 30. Most Americans say they support expanding SNAP benefits permanently, according to a survey earlier this year by the Purdue University Center for Food Demand.

At the end of June, waivers allowing the federal government to provide free school meals to all children will expire.

As the programs return to pre-pandemic norms, Iowa families struggling to secure enough food are encouraged to explore options.

Temporarily removing income requirements allowed families negatively affected by the pandemic to access these meals during school and over the summer, but resuming eligibility rules comes as rising grocery costs take a big bite out of household budgets.

Annette Hacker, vice president of communications for Food Bank of Iowa, said it is especially hard on families with earnings barely above the income threshold.

"With rising food, fuel and housing prices, and inflation at a rate that we haven't seen since 1979, it's become more and more difficult for families -- working people -- to afford food," Hacker observed.

For households with children who do not qualify for free or reduced-price meals, they can research local pantries, including ones tied to schools, through the Food Bank of Iowa. She cautioned local sites can have varying hours and requirements, but rarely turn people away.

Despite the end of federal waivers, the Des Moines school district will continue universal meals this fall.

Feeding America, which leads the network of organizations Food Bank of Iowa is part of, recently called on Congress to extend the waivers for at least another year. Others have called for permanent universal free meals.

And Feeding America points out that the with more than 1 in 5 children in the U.S. living in a food-insecure household, the National School Lunch Program plays a key role in the healthy development and educational outcomes for low-income children.

Meanwhile, Hacker notes some families are losing a critical lifeline right now.

"We know that means that during the summer, parents have to come up with an extra minimum 10 meals per-week per-child at a time when groceries have never been higher," Hacker pointed out.

The Biden administration pushed for extensions this year, but differences in Congress halted the plan. Some Republicans have argued it would require spending for a number of families who do not need it.

Supporters of universal meals say they reduce stigma by guaranteeing a meal for every student while reducing administrative burdens for school districts.