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By John Bachtell
Vehicles stretched for miles leading up to the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. The line was so long that many people left their cars and walked the distance to pick up a share of food.
“It’s amazing and heartbreaking all at the same time,” said Karen Pozna, director of communications at the GCFB, describing the flood of 4,000 people seeking emergency food on March 24. “We’ve done these distributions monthly and never seen anything like this.”
The distribution set a record; two-thirds of the people who showed up that day were coming to the food bank for the first time. “We’re trying to assist anyone in need of food right now,” Pozna said. “So many people have been laid off and don’t know where to turn.”
There is no food shortage in the U.S.; warehouses and federal stockpiles are bursting. Bare shelves at local grocery stores reflect panic buying, but each night, workers restock them. However, the pandemic and resulting economic crisis have created an emergency demand for food on top of the already existing food insecurity millions struggle with each day....
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