CLEVELAND — Feeding families this holiday season is a major priority for many people, including a few teachers from Franklin D. Roosevelt Academy in Cleveland.
“This year we noticed a lot more of the need within our classrooms,” said teacher Valacity.
And they were able to find a solution. On Saturday, they visited the non-profit Thanksgiving Heroes Cleveland to pick up Thanksgiving meal boxes for their students’ families.
“We're so excited to go see them on a Saturday and most of them don't know we're coming so we know they will be [excited] to see us,” said Valacity.
The organization is serving 2,250 families in Cuyahoga, Erie and Lorain counties; organizers said that’s 250 more than last year.
“One in seven people are food insecure in Ohio, so we want to make sure that every child gets to have a Thanksgiving, and if they're only eating at school, have plenty of leftovers for the week,” said Spokesperson Shannon Fowls.
Fowls said the process is simple: people can nominate a family in need and then volunteer to deliver the food to those families.
“We're going to have 350 families come down here, — wife, husband, kids and they're going to go ahead and deliver this straight to these families' houses. And it just shows how much people care about their community,” said Fowls.
Among some of those volunteers was the Lorain Police Department, who were eager to pour back into their community.
“There's an increase I’m seeing from a ton of our officers who are just that much more motivated than they already were to volunteer their time because it's important. Not because, it's what we're supposed to do, but there's a measure of gratitude that really is apparent. And it’s also showing in the way that they do their jobs,” said Capt. Jacob Morris.
If you would like to volunteer or nominate a family next year, registration opens up in October 2026.
