Written by Marcie Kamb, December 19, 2022
The Center on Education and Training for Employment (CETE) has a vision to propel expertise on workforce, communities, and education, to create healthy urban and rural communities that support well-being and economic prosperity.
One critical aspect of a healthy community is food security, which the International Food Policy Research Institute defines as all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their food preferences and dietary needs for an active and healthy life. Unfortunately, the number of Ohio families facing food insecurity has increased drastically since the pandemic. There continue to be supply chain problems, inflated food prices, and family economic struggles. In 2022, the Columbus Dispatch reported that in March of 2022, 334,000 more people in Ohio were served by food pantries than in March of 2020.
The Mid-Ohio Food Collective serves 20 counties across 10,000 miles.
The faculty, associates, and students who are part of the CETE community know that the best way to make an impact is to take collective action. Each December, CETE partners with the Mid-Ohio Food Collective to donate funds to support the 20 counties across 10,000 miles they serve. The people living the counties who experience hunger are missing, on average, 52 days of eating a year. More than 170,000 meals are provided daily for hungry people in central and eastern Ohio.
CETE has donated close to a total of $22,000 over the past 11 years, with each of those individual dollars providing up to $5.22 worth of food and groceries so families can put healthy meals on their tables. It is these simple acts of giving that keeps CETE’s focus on the communities they work with, the needs of the families, and ways to help them not only survive, but thrive.
Learn more about ways to contribute financially, with your colleagues, or volunteer with the Mid-Ohio Food Collective.