OHgo's hunger to feed community fuels its Food Fight campaign

SANDUSKY — Hunger often consumes Ralph Denney.The feeling hit an all-time high Thursday, when he found himself surrounded by all sorts of tempting, tasty, free food, such as succulent steaks and fudge-striped creamy Keebler Elf cookies.Though the Sandusky resident restrained himself from purging by not snacking.Denney did so because he realized more than 100 people standing near him at MacArthur Park felt a similar emptiness, both in their stomachs and wallets. Denney believed they deserved first dibs on the free grub."I let everyone get their food first, and then I go last, happy just to take home something," he said.The OHgo food pantry arrives at MacArthur Park in Sandusky to serve community members. Twice a month, on the first and third Thursdays, the nonprofit serves community members there, in addition to New Jerusalem Baptist Church and Orlando Pace Park in Sandusky, and offers free food for low income-eligible residents.After working three stops and assisting more than 500 people, Denney finally, and joyfully, scooped a few items to hold him over for a few days.So why did he wait so long for so little?"They are nice enough to go out and do this to help people like me that need help, especially when I am not working and have health problems," Denney said. "If I'm good enough to receive, then I'm good enough to help."Volunteer Ralph Denney helps carry food to a resident's car during OHgo's mobile pantry event on Thursday. "A program like this, it goes to show you there is a real need here," said Denney, who began volunteering earlier this year after first receiving food pantry goods in fall 2017. "With the prices of everything going up, it's hard for people to make ends meet. This program needs to stay for all the people who need something like this."Feeding the communityDenney referenced the local nonprofit OHgo and its mobile food pantry operation. It's the same organization overseeing Project Happy, which delivers Christmas presents to area children who would otherwise not receive holiday gifts.Twice a month, from 4-6:30 p.m. on Thursdays, volunteers visit three distressed city neighborhoods, where large underprivileged populations exist.Helpers, including Denney, quickly unpack hundreds of items from a van and set up a miniature grocery market on the go. The items include fresh produce, frozen meats, eggs, canned goods, nonperishables, desserts, snacks and some clothing items.Community members form a line at MacArthur Park in Sandusky to pick up food from OHgo's mobile pantry event on Thursday. The program allows low income-eligible residents to receive free food, such as fresh produce, frozen meats, canned goods, eggs, nonperishables, desserts, snacks and some clothing items.Recipients can choose what and how much they want, no questions asked, with few limitations on certain products. Volunteers ensure each person representing a household can receive roughly four days' worth of food."We try to offer as many healthy options as we can, and that all comes from our food provider, Second Harvest Food Bank," OHgo's cofounder Christine Boesch said. She runs the organization with her friend Kendra Faulkner.Since starting in June 2017, the mobile food pantry initiative has served, on average, upward of 1,500 low income-eligible locals each month."We realized there was a great need in our community," Boesch said. "We are the only ones around here that have a mobile setup. We go to these neighborhoods because we know they have the largest populations of people that have difficulty accessing the mainstream groups and services to help them. Some don't have transportation. Some don't want to travel. So we pick our target areas where we're close to them, and they'll come to us.""Food Fight!"OHgo cofounder Christine Boesch and her daughters Brynlee, 3, and Kori, 6, hand out candy bars to a mobile food pantry visitor. "This program is so important because we want the people we serve to know that they can rely on a consistent source which will provide them food so they don't go hungry," Boesch said.This year, OHgo embarked on what its members are calling a "Food Fight.""Our focus for 2018 is to end food insecurity in Erie County," Boesch said. "To help us reach that goal, we are fundraising for a food bus. In addition to our other trucks, the bus will serve more as a cover, heated, well-lit pantry on wheels. We want it to be big enough to hold up to 7,000 pounds of food. The bus will have food shelves and products in which businesses can sponsor them. That means more food for more people."Volunteers pick up fruit for people in need during Thursday's OHgo mobile food pantry event at MacArthur Park in Sandusky.Boesch — who noted every dollar OHgo receives through donations helps buy four meals — alluded to adding a fourth stop, possibly in Foxborough Park, sometime later this year. The mobile food pantry today visits MacArthur Park, New Jerusalem Baptist Church and Orlando Pace Park."This program is so important because we want the people we serve to know that they can rely on a consistent source which will provide them food so they don't go hungry," Boesch said. "They can count on us, no matter what, and that's why we need to grow."Robin Boesch helps unpack tables from the OHgo truck for Thursday's mobile food pantry event. Twice a month, volunteers visit three distressed city neighborhoods — MacArthur Park, New Jerusalem Baptist Church and Orlando Pace Park —where large underprivileged populations exist. OHgo's mission aims to inspire lifelong contributors to society by facilitating acts of kindness. Boesch pointed to Denney, a food pantry recipient-turned-volunteer, as a shining example of the nonprofit motivating others."A program like this, it goes to show you there is a real need here," said Denney, who began volunteering earlier this year after first receiving food pantry goods in fall 2017. "With the prices of everything going up, it's hard for people to make ends meet. This program needs to stay for all the people who need something like this."OHgo volunteers Julie Kessler and Rae Roldan, 14, load cans of food into bins at MacArthur Park in Sandusky on Thursday. The food pantry event helps, on average, upward of 1,500 low income-eligible residents each month. Want to go?What: The OHgo mobile food pantry, a program in which the local nonprofit distributes food at no cost to underprivileged community members in underserved areas.When/Where: During the first and third Thursday of each month, the food pantry makes three stops at a trio of community gathering spots:• 4-40 p.m. — MacArthur Park, off West Perkins Avenue by The Frosty Frog's House of Donuts• 4:50-5:30 p.m. — New Jerusalem Baptist Church, 1920 Shelby St.• 5:50-6:30 p.m. — Orlando Pace Park, on Wamajo Drive off Cleveland Road (U.S. 6)Who: The program is open to low income-eligible residents. Anything qualifying must bring valid identification to receive food.More: OHgo members continue to fundraise for a large bus to serve even more people. For more information or to donate, visit facebook.com/ohgoreach/?ref=br_tf or ohgoreach.org. For every $1 donated, that amounts to four meals.Huron High School sophomore Riley Roldan unpacks canned food from the OHgo truck for the mobile pantry at MacArthur Park on Thursday.Reach reporter Andy Ouriel at ouriel@sanduskyregister.com and follow him on Twitter @AndyOuriel.