Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank launches annual hunger campaign

The Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank kicked off the 35th annual Harvest for Hunger Campaign Feb. 27 in Akron. Nearly 400 guests gathered at the John S. Knight Center to learn how they can get involved and support local hunger-relief efforts.

Harvest for Hunger is the food bank’s largest annual fundraising campaign and helps support food distribution throughout the year. The community’s generosity directly impacts the organization’s ability to serve neighbors experiencing hunger.

This year’s goal is to provide the equivalent of 4.8 million meals including $1.6 million and 100,000 pounds of food.

“When colleagues raise a few dollars together, students fill collection bins or congregations dedicate a service to the cause, those incremental efforts become something truly monumental for our community,” said Abbey Linville, Harvest for Hunger Campaign co-chair and vice president of public relations and communications at The J.M. Smucker Co.

Linville and Ron Paydo, market president for the Akron/Canton market at Huntington Bank, are leading the campaign. They encouraged guests to support the effort by coordinating food and funds drives, through employee giving campaigns, volunteering and participating in Check Out Hunger, the donation collection that takes place in many local supermarkets and at GetGo gas stations.

Support is especially critical as the food bank continues to experience increased demand amid reduced resources following federal and state budget cuts in 2025.

Food bank leaders also expressed gratitude for the community’s generosity last year in response to those budget cuts and disruptions to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

“In the midst of the government shutdown, our community rose to the moment, rallying around the food bank with generosity, urgency and heart,” said Katie Carver Reed, food bank executive vice president. “This community showed up — proving that when systems falter, people don’t.”

The keynote message for this year’s kickoff celebrated the volunteers who support every facet of the organization by giving of their time.

Colleen Benson, chief development officer, said when time is the only coin given, what matters most is how that time is spent.

“Time, in the end, is all we have, and it can absolutely be our greatest expression of our love of humanity,” Benson said.

The Harvest for Hunger Campaign is a collaborative partnership between the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank, Greater Cleveland Food Bank, Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley and the Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio. The campaign focuses on fighting hunger across 21 counties in Northeast Ohio. If interested in participating in the 2026 Harvest for Hunger Campaign, visit www.akroncantonfoodbank.org/harvest.

Diamond sponsors Huntington Bank and The J.M. Smucker Co. supported the luncheon.