BATAVIA, Ohio — Volunteers with Summerside Ministries distributed roughly 2,700 pounds of frozen food to 250 families in a single afternoon Saturday, as Batavia was chosen as one of only 15 communities in the region to host a “Stock the Freezer” distribution event.
The giveaway took place at Faith United Methodist Church on North Fifth Street, where doors opened at 2 p.m. but a line had already formed outside by 1 p.m., according to the Village of Batavia.
The distribution was organized through a partnership between Summerside Ministries, Freestore Foodbank and Duke Energy, the village said in a Facebook post.
Summerside Ministries operates a food pantry out of the church’s lower level, serving residents across Clermont, Brown and Hamilton counties. The pantry runs on a choice model, letting clients select the groceries they need rather than receive a pre-packaged box, and is sustained through community donations and its partnership with Freestore Foodbank, according to the church.
Freestore Foodbank, which supplied the frozen food for Saturday’s event, is the largest emergency food and services provider in Greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky and southeast Indiana. The food bank, an affiliate of the national Feeding America network, supports roughly 400 community partner agencies across 20 counties in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana and distributes about 24 million meals a year.
The Village of Batavia thanked the volunteers who staffed Saturday’s event, from those who packed coolers to those who greeted each family at the door.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Village of Batavia.