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Local foodbank continues to grow with the help of donations
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: April 16, 2013
Founded by John van Hengel in Arizona in 1967, St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance is considered the first food bank in the world. Van Hengel came up with the idea a couple of years earlier while volunteering for a community dining room and learning that grocery stores often threw away food because of damaged packaging or when products were close to expiration.
He began collecting food for the dining room, quickly becoming overwhelmed by the volume and realizing that a collection center from which other agencies could receive donations was necessary, creating the first food bank with the help of St. Mary’s Basilica.
Since then such organizations have become common. The Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank opened its doors in 1982, providing food and other essential items to member agencies in Summit, Stark, Portage, Medina, Tuscarawas, Wayne, Carroll and Holmes counties.
“We are one of the largest nonprofit organizations in the region,” said President and CEO Dan Flowers.
“Last year we provided 20.6 million pounds of food to member agencies like soup kitchens, food pantries and homeless shelters in eight counties. Our food served more than 180,000 different people in 2012.”
Flowers said when it first opened it was known as the Akron-Area Foodbank and operated in a small, donated warehouse on Gilchrist Road. In October 2007, it moved to an 85,000-square-foot warehouse at 350 Opportunity Pkwy.
“About eight or nine years ago the board decided that a larger facility was needed,” said George Sarkis, a board member of the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank, who served as chairman for two years. “We were able to acquire the former House of LaRose property in Akron. It was a beer distributor warehousing facility so the space was well suited for a food bank,” said Sarkis, who is also a partner at Roetzel & Andress.
Sarkis has put his lawyering skills to work on numerous occasions to help the organization. He chaired the board’s strategic planning committee, which led to the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank expanding its mission in the new facility to serve far greater numbers in its service area.
His firm, Roetzel & Andress, also supports many of the programs, including the annual Harvest for Hunger campaign and the Taste of the NFL at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which Sarkis said is the foodbank’s annual fundraiser that is held as part of a national program that raises money for food banks.
“I think we as lawyers tend to populate the boards of nonprofit organizations and it’s nice to be able to provide guidance to this board that helps to support so many hungry people in our area,” said Sarkis.
Flowers said the recent recession has stretched the organization to its limits.
“So many people have had their unemployment run out,” said Flowers. “We always helped a lot of seniors and people on fixed incomes but recently we’ve seen a lot more people who’ve been hurt by the economy asking for help.”
He said the annual Harvest for Hunger food drive is one of the largest campaigns and also one of the biggest food and funds drives in the country.
“During March a lot of the grocery stores in the community, like Giant Eagle, allow people to make donations when they check out their groceries, which is an easy way for people to give.”
He said a lot of local businesses also put together efforts.
“We have more than 5,000 volunteers who come here and sort through the food so it can be distributed to our member organizations,” said Flowers. “Much of the food is donated by food manufacturers and the money we receive is used to operate the trucks and provide meals.
“We are not involved in the food preparation process,” said Flowers. “For every dollar we are able to provide four meals.”
Roetzel & Andress is not the only law firm in the area that pitches in to raise money. On Feb. 16, some very brave members of the Akron office of Kisling, Nestico & Redick took part in the 10th annual Polar Bear Jump in the Portage Lakes to raise money for the cause.
“I found out about the campaign on Facebook,” said Brandy Lamtman, executive assistant at the firm. “I thought it would be good to pull a team together and raise money.”
In all, 19 people participated, raising about $11,000 for the charity.
“It was scary, but honestly, it was more fun than I had in a long time,” said Lamtman, who took part in the jump. “There was music and there were so many teams there. We were the first to jump and that was exciting. It was unbelievably cold that day so the water was freezing and the week before I had been in Mexico.
“Because our firm has so many different offices, we had a large variety of people participating––attorneys, paralegals, receptionists and other support staff.”
John Reagan, who chairs the litigation department at KNR, was among the jumpers.
“It was about as cold as you can get and still be conscious,” said Reagan. “I would say if you can imagine watching the Browns at Browns Stadium on the coldest day of the year and multiply that by 10 that would sum it up.
“It’s a great cause because the foodbank helps so many people in the area. It was the first time I participated and I will do it again as crazy as that sounds.”
The Polar Bear Jump was the first fundraising effort that the firm participated in for the foodbank but it did donate money two years ago and members are now gearing up for the Color Vibe 5k run, which takes place on April 27 at the Summit County Fairgrounds.
“A portion of the proceeds go to the foodbank,” said Lamtman, who is one of the runners. “We have 45 people on our team. Right now we’re all in training, which is fun.”
The foodbank has received help from the Fairlawn office of Javitch, Block & Rathbone.
“During the holidays we decorated a holiday tree and placed our ‘offerings,’” said Renee Reedy, processing team leader in Fairlawn.“It felt great to see the piles grow and know we were helping our own hometown.
“I think the office felt that we contribute to a lot of well-deserving organizations in the Cleveland area and just wanted to assist those in Akron as well,” said Reedy. “This was our first office-wide community project.”
Reedy said other offices also held fundraisers and food drives during the holiday season.
“Javitch, Block & Rathbone has launched an ‘Engage’ initiative for all the employees of the firm. We believe in staying ‘engaged’ in work, in life and through our communities. To that end, we are always offering ways to become more adept at our work tasks, to balance work-life by helping employees with health initiatives and by involving ourselves in our respective communities through donations, fundraising efforts and other programs to benefit those less fortunate,” said Reedy.
“Another prominent local attorney and community leader, Joe Parsons, has played a pivotal role in the evolution of the foodbank,” said Flowers. “Mr. Parsons served nine years on the foodbank's board of directors and chaired the board during the capital campaign and building project.
“Mr. Parsons specializes in real estate and his commitment and expertise was perfect for the needs of the foodbank. His countless hours of pro bono legal consulting work and hands-on leadership resulted in the foodbank naming the board room in its new facility the Joseph Parsons Board Room.”
Flowers said that the organization also receives ongoing pro bono legal consulting services from former board members and friends, such as Gary Spring, Gary Benz, Pete Kostoff, Bryan Conway, Paul Jackson, David Kern and Judith Macro.
Flowers himself also helps to raise money for the foodbank and was among the jumpers at the Polar Bear event in February.
“My son Andy and I were proud to lead off the Polar Bear Jump with 800 ‘polar bears’ behind us. I’m not going to pretend the water wasn’t freezing, but the cold lasted only for a few seconds,” said Flowers, who added that the event raised $80,000 in total. “It’s important we focus on the warmth from all the good that was done for our foodbank and our community.”
In 2012, Feeding America named the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank the Food Bank of the Year at its annual Network Summit in Detroit. The award is the highest recognition achievable by food banks and is given to the year's most outstanding food bank out of the 202 entities across the nation in the Feeding America network.
“I have a job that gives me an opportunity to help people,” said Flowers. “When I was a kid I had so many experiences with poverty that I became at home with it and with poor people.
“I grew up lower middle class and both my parents came from impoverished families. After I graduated from college I realized how relaxed and comfortable I am around the poor,” said Flowers.
“My wife and I spend a lot of time raising money for the poor. We run the food pantry at our church in Rootstown. It just feels good.”