{"id":12122,"date":"2025-11-10T15:18:31","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T21:18:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mealsofhope.org\/ohiosouth\/?p=12122"},"modified":"2025-11-10T15:18:31","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T21:18:31","slug":"pack-the-valley-dishes-out-128000-nutritious-meals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mealsofhope.org\/ohiosouth\/blog\/2025\/11\/10\/pack-the-valley-dishes-out-128000-nutritious-meals\/","title":{"rendered":"Pack the Valley Dishes Out 128,000 Nutritious Meals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Courtesy of The Vindicator<\/a><\/p>\n

BOARDMAN \u2014 If you traveled one mile for every package of soup and hot cereal that was assembled then distributed, you would find yourself more than halfway to the moon.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to do easy-to-package items that are easy for families to make,\u201d Cassandra Valentini, Direction Home of Eastern Ohio\u2019s chief community development and public relations director, said.<\/p>\n

Valentini was referring to shelf-stable packets of apple-cinnamon oatmeal and vegetable rice soup that will be distributed to area agencies such as Gleaners Food Bank, the Mahoning-Youngstown Community Action Partnership, Heart Reach Neighborhood Ministries and United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley. The items will then be supplied to many area senior citizens and families who are facing food insecurities and other struggles, Valentini noted.<\/p>\n

An estimated 128,000 simple-to-prepare, high-nutrition packages of both meals were assembled, courtesy of more than 300 volunteers who took part in a Pack the Valley event Tuesday morning and afternoon at the United Way Volunteer Resource Center, 8133 Market St.<\/p>\n

The seven-hour massive gathering also was a collaboration between Direction Home of Eastern Ohio, United Way, Meals of Hope<\/a> and other community partners.<\/p>\n

The center resembled a sea of blue as hundreds of volunteers of all ages wore blue sweatshirts and busily mixed the ingredients and packaged the items. Among the teams of workers were Olivia Lesky, Reese McNee and Gia Guerrieri, all South Range High School seniors and National Honor Society members.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do stuff like this all the time,\u201d Lesky said, adding that community-service projects are a major thrust behind the students\u2019 NHS chapter.<\/p>\n

Given her track record, Tuesday\u2019s event was par for the course for Lesky, because her volunteer efforts also have included planting trees at a Canfield wildlife preserve and giving her time at the Silver Lining Cancer Fund, where she manages its social media page and organizes clothing for those with the disease.<\/p>\n

In addition, Lesky and the other students have worked on behalf of United Way\u2019s Saturday of Caring, in which volunteers meet the third Saturday of each month to unload grocery trucks, then pack bags of nonperishable and fresh food to be distributed to several hundred homes across the Valley.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all in the same community,\u201d Lesky said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe timing of this is very appropriate. The holidays are coming and food benefits for many are in jeopardy,\u201d Becky Wall, Dearing Compressor & Pump Co.\u2019s chief executive officer, said, referring to SNAP benefits for many ending Saturday because of the federal government shutdown. \u201cWe believe this community is very giving.\u201d<\/p>\n

At one point Tuesday, Wall and several Dearing employees teamed up to assemble and mix dehydrated carrots, rice, chicken broth, peas and corn for the soup packages.<\/p>\n

After a lunch break, other volunteers gathered around large tables to assemble the apple-cinnamon oatmeal packets.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing to see all of these people giving up their time to put together meals for people in need. It\u2019s heartwarming and amazing,\u201d Jen Markewicz of Columbus said.<\/p>\n

For her part, Markewicz, who\u2019s with Meals of Hope, teamed up with her husband, Jeremy Markewicz, to ready soup packages for distribution. Meals of Hope has a warehouse in Dayton that prepares food items to be shipped to sites across the state, she noted.<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s Pack the Valley event was timely also because older adults represent the fastest growing population to visit food banks, largely because many of them are on fixed incomes. In addition, Pack the Valley can be helpful to individuals who are unable to get to area food banks because of poor health or lack of transportation, Valentini said, adding that the average Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefit for an older person is about $25 per month.<\/p>\n

Also, Pack the Valley aligns with United Way\u2019s mission of assisting those who are vulnerable and displaying compassion, empathy and hope to them while leaving positive footprints in the Valley, Bob Hannon, UW\u2019s president, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has exceeded every expectation,\u201d he said about Tuesday\u2019s event.<\/p>\n

Hannon stressed that any nonprofit agency or entity is \u201cmore than welcome\u201d to use the volunteer resource center. Those have included Catholic Charities Regional Agency and the American Red Cross, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is why we have this facility,\u201d Hannon added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Courtesy of The Vindicator BOARDMAN \u2014 If you traveled one mile for every package of soup and hot cereal that was assembled then distributed, you would find yourself more than halfway to the moon. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to do easy-to-package items that are easy for families to make,\u201d Cassandra Valentini, Direction Home of Eastern Ohio\u2019s chief […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":12123,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,15,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-in-the-news","category-meals-of-hope-news"],"yoast_head":"\nPack the Valley Dishes Out 128,000 Nutritious Meals - Meals of Hope Ohio South<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"More than 300 volunteers joined Pack the Valley Meals of Hope, preparing 128,000 nutritious meals to fight hunger in the Mahoning Valley.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mealsofhope.org\/ohiosouth\/blog\/2025\/11\/10\/pack-the-valley-dishes-out-128000-nutritious-meals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pack the Valley Dishes Out 128,000 Nutritious Meals - 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