Volunteers needed to provide meals for residents

Friends of the Homeless Shelter of Tuscarawas County needs a little help from the community in providing for those who might otherwise go without food. Assistance is sought in providing dinners for shelter residents and for those who come for a hot meal in the evenings.

The need is constant, shelter case manager Becky Everhart said.

“This has been an ongoing problem at the shelter since I started working here in 2017. In the last couple of years, really since COVID-19, it’s getting harder and harder to find people who can prepare and deliver or help to provide meals,” Everhart said.

Assistance with meals has traditionally been provided by area church members.

“Those members are aging, and many are unable to keep up with helping with meals,” Everhart said, “so that causes a shortage. We’ve really been feeling it in the last couple of years.”

There are many ways to volunteer to help, Everhart explained.

“There are many ways you can help provide a meal. We feed 30-40 people who live at the shelter every night. Then sometimes it’s another 15 or 20 people who can come for dinner. An individual or church organization or community organization can prepare food and deliver it to the shelter. They can provide ingredients, and we will cook the food ourselves. They can have something like pizza or chicken delivered, and we will serve it. So there are many ways to help,” Everhart said.

Anyone who would like to help may call the Friends of the Homeless Shelter at 330-602-6100 or message the shelter via its Facebook page, where the shelter posts updated lists of dates with openings for a volunteer to help.

“The dates change every month,” Everhart said. “Some people agree to help with one date each month; some will help for a week or once a week or every three months. People can also help with parts of meals. You may want to just provide side dishes or just a meat. We can accommodate that also. We can link people up with other organizations who can only provide half a meal as well.”

Donations are tax-deductible and also count toward the shelter’s in-kind donations, a benefit for both the shelter and the donor. Cash donations for food purchases also are welcome.

“Just let us know that your donation is for the next open night we have,” Everhart said.

There are empty spots on the calendar for both January and February that remain to be filed. Everhart said the shelter is not currently lacking in food for its residents overall, as the organization works closely with others such as the Akron Canton Food Bank to keep food and other supplies on hand as much as possible.

“There are things we always run out of quickly, like canned fruits and peanut butter and jelly,” Everhart said.

While it is most often community churches and other organizations that have helped with providing dinners, many individuals also help on their own from their homes.

“And again,” Everhart said, “you don’t have to cook up a huge meal with everything included on your own. You can do as you’re able, and there can be others in a similar situation that can break that up and make it easier.”

Friends of the Homeless of Tuscarawas County is at 211 E. High Ave. in New Philadelphia. The website is at www.fothtusc.org.