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One of our partners reminded me a couple of days ago, it’s time to start planning for the annual food drives hosted by The Marietta Times and Parkersburg News and Sentinel each fall.

He was right, of course, but my first thought was “Wow, this seems early.”

It’s not. The more time we spend working on this, the better we can do for those who are hungry here in the Mid-Ohio Valley.

Filling that need can’t wait until fall, however.

Changes in the economy and in the way food banks and school feeding programs receive support are making the need even more pressing, right now.

Lawmakers in Ohio are hearing from advocates who would like to see fully funded school meals for all public school students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Two solid meals a day, five days a week, make a world of difference to a child who might be facing food insecurity outside of school.

Former state Rep. Jay Edwards of Nelsonville wrote a piece back in January, which can be found through the Hunger Free Schools Ohio website, speaking from his perspective as both a former elected official and a lifelong Appalachian resident.

“I’ve seen firsthand how child hunger erodes opportunities and limits potential,” he said.

Edwards talked about stories of young children being denied a hot lunch because of accumulated debt to the school, and the embarrassment felt by children in such a position.

He cites recent polling numbers that show 67% of Ohio voters support free breakfast and lunch for all school children — 73% in southeast Ohio.

“If we want to be fiscally responsible with our investments in education, and if we want to honor every child’s life and hope in their future, we must make sure their most fundamental needs are met. Full and nourished bellies are a priority because hungry children cannot learn,” Edwards wrote, in the opinion piece that was originally published in The Columbus Dispatch.

Hunger is on our minds, in Columbus and in the Mid-Ohio Valley. And even as we worry, the conversation is changing.

Federal funding is uncertain.

Cleveland.com reported Wednesday that a representative of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank said the food bank is facing cancellation of 20 semi trucks full of food from the Federal Emergency Food Assistance Program, as early as next week.

Officials in West Virginia are mulling the consequences of ending two U.S. Department of Agriculture programs that helped schools and food banks: the Local Food for Schools and Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement programs.

Even if nothing changes, food insecurity in our region is significant. According to WV FoodLink, the state’s emergency food network serves approximately 300,000 Mountain State residents each year.

The Ohio Association of Foodbanks annual report for 2024 says the statewide network of foodbanks and hunger relief agencies provided 244 million meals between July 1, 2023 and June 20, 2024. Those meals served nearly 16 million people. The association receives federal funding from the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, the Emergency Food Assistance Program and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative.

In all our communities, purchased food (bought with monetary donations to the food banks) and donated food make up a portion of the support that helps food banks and hunger relief programs feed vulnerable families. For the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, those two sources make up about half of the sources of food they are able to provide.

So yes, we here at the newspapers are planning food drives as we continue to try to be part of the solution. We hope we see you in the fall.

But don’t wait. The need is urgent; and uncertainty is not a hungry child’s friend. Talk to your state lawmakers about solutions you hope they will support. And in the meantime, give what you can.

Be part of the solution, right now.

Christina Myer is executive editor of The Parkersburg News and Sentinel. She can be reached via e-mail at cmyer@newsandsentinel.com