United Relief

What now? From a county treasurer’s “Hunger Run” to co-ops and community gardens, from civic focus to shared goals—how ordinary neighbors can move a county toward no child hungry.

• John Kennedy
• Sabrina Christian-Bennett
• Ben Wolford, Publisher of The Portager
• Ben and Patrick Childers, co-founder Odd Conduit Media

• Why focus matters: align orgs and volunteers on a single north star—no child hungry in Portage County—and measure every effort against it.
• What stuck from COVID (drive-through access) and what didn’t (emergency dollars)—and why stigma still shapes the user experience.
• A hard update: Rural Relief’s closure (funding + health) and what that signals about fragility at the last mile.
• Practical on-ramps: join a local board, keep 211 listings accurate, start/expand a garden plot, organize quarterly cross-org huddles.

• Hunger Network
• Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank
• United Way Portage County
• 211 (call or 211.org) for local services
• Feeding America

Reporting/hosting by Ben & Patrick Childers. Editing/mix/master by Patrick. Fact-check by Dash Lewis. Story edit by Jenna Marson. Artwork by Miggs Sonny. Original music by L.T. Headtrip.

Mentioned in this episode:

Neighbors In Need: Portage County Emergency Support Drive

Neighbors In Need

A day with Rural Relief Mobile Food Pantry shows what it takes to move food the final mile into rural communities—real-time shortages, handwritten intake logs, and intimate acts of neighbor-to-neighbor care.

• Jason & Rena, Rural Relief Mobile Food Pantry
• Dennis, a neighbor on fixed income
• Becky Lehman, Portage County Health Commissioner (drive-through pop-up)
• Bill Childers, United Way Portage County

• Loading the bus: ordering “the menu,” filling gaps in the Foodbank marketplace, tossing spoiled produce, pivoting on the fly.
• Why the bus matters: 80% first-time users; reaching people who can’t get to town pantries.
• At Atwater Park: personalized dignity (snack packs for kids, ramen for a teen), and how the food always runs out right on time.
• Real stories of our neighbors: A grandmother raising four grandkids; Dennis choosing between utilities and dinner.
• Funding in motion: United Way connects Rural Relief to stable micro-grants mid-distribution.

Reporting/hosting by Ben & Patrick Childers. Editing/mix/master by Patrick. Fact-check by Dash Lewis. Story edit by Jenna Marson. Artwork by Miggs Sonny. Original music by L.T. Headtrip.

Mentioned in this episode:

Neighbors In Need: Portage County Emergency Support Drive

Neighbors In Need

Inside the organizations that stitch the safety net together—United Way Portage County and the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank—where logistics, dignity, and scarcity collide.

• Bill Childers, President & CEO, United Way Portage County
• Heather Rainone, United Way Portage County
• Raven Gayhart, Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank
• Brooke Durow, Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank

• What “Change Hunger” is and how emergency food dollars flow across a county.
• 211 by the numbers: (calls, searches, 700+ local programs) and why discoverability still fails many families.
• Foodbank 101: the hub-and-spoke model; client choice vs. drive-through boxes; why kids and seniors dominate the lines.
• Post-COVID realities: supply shortfalls, purchased food up 40%, pantry visits up double digits.
• The dignity piece: letting neighbors “shop the shelves” vs. the anonymity and convenience of drive-through.

• Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank
• United Way Portage County
• 211 (call or 211.org) for local services

Reporting/hosting by Ben & Patrick Childers. Editing/mix/master by Patrick. Fact-check by Dash Lewis. Story edit by Jenna Marson. Artwork by Miggs Sonny. Original music by L.T. Headtrip.

Mentioned in this episode:

Neighbors In Need: Portage County Emergency Support Drive

Neighbors In Need

A ground-level primer on Portage County’s hunger crisis—how the pandemic exposed long-standing gaps, what ALICE reveals that federal poverty stats miss, and how county leaders tried to plug holes with ARPA funds.

• John Kennedy, Portage County Treasurer
• Sabrina Christian-Bennett, Portage County Commissioner

• The moment hunger got personal: families living in cars at a single pantry stop.
• Kent vs. Ravenna: visible prosperity, hidden need—and why Portage is a microcosm of the country.
• ALICE vs. poverty rate: why 23% under ALICE (and 60%+ in Kent City) reframes the scale of hunger locally.
• What ARPA enabled (and couldn’t): rapid grants, pop-up pantries, moving dollars to the Foodbank to cut red tape.
• Rural barriers: food deserts, no transit, the cost of distance.
• The collaboration problem: breaking “silo mentality” so people actually find help.

• ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) methodology
• Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank
• United Way Portage County
• 211 (call or 211.org) for local services

Reporting/hosting by Ben & Patrick Childers. Editing/mix/master by Patrick. Fact-check by Dash Lewis. Story edit by Jenna Marson. Artwork by Miggs Sonny. Original music by L.T. Headtrip.

Mentioned in this episode:

Neighbors In Need: Portage County Emergency Support Drive

Neighbors In Need

In Portage County, Ohio—like so many places across the country—food insecurity isn’t just a statistic, it’s a lived reality. This podcast follows two brothers as they return home to uncover the complex web of causes, challenges, and grassroots solutions shaping the fight against hunger in their community.

Through intimate interviews and on-the-ground reporting, we explore the local food ecosystem—from county officials and food bank leaders to rural mutual aid groups and policy influencers. Along the way, we ask: What does it really take to make sure everyone in our community eats?

If you have an untold story about community impact and are looking for help telling it via podcasting, contact us at [email protected]. You can learn more about us at oddconduitmedia.com.