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Mason Food Pantry Director Gina Brown. The Enquirer/ Tony Jones

In an affluent community like Mason, many kids spend after-school hours and weekends at dance classes or swim practice.

But such luxuries are an impossibility for a growing number of Mason families, who struggle to pay the bills and can’t afford these extras.

Now, thanks to a $20,000 grant from General Mills, the Mason Food Pantry is hoping to bridge that gap while emphasizing the importance of fitness and nutrition to children in need.

The pantry is one of 25 groups nationally to receive a grant through General Mills’ sales community grant program.  Three other local organizations also received grants, including Girls on the Run of Greater Cincinnati, Seven Hills Neighborhood Houses and Life Pantry in Loveland.

Local General Mills sales offices nominate nonprofit organizations that work to alleviate hunger or advance nutrition wellness in their communities, said Tiffani Tekulve, an account manager at GM’s Mason sales office.

The Mason Food Pantry’s new program, Health Over Performance Fit Kids program, meets both of those goals, she said.

The program, which the pantry plans to roll out in the New Year, focuses on fitness assessment, professional development and recognition, said pantry director Gina Brown.

The goal is to minimize comparisons between kids while supporting them as they pursue personal fitness goals for lifelong health, she said.

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Posted in: Community, News |

Tags: Tags: children, fitness, general mills, gina brown, grant, health, health over performance fit kids, kids, mason food pantry, poverty, sales community grant program, tiffani tekulve

Mason Food Pantry Director Gina Brown has plenty of shelf space to fill now that Warren County commissioners are kicking in $30,000 for the annual Warren County food drive. The Enquirer/ Tony Jones

Paul McKibben reports:

For the seventh straight year, Warren County commissioners are doing something unheard of in these parts.

They are organizing a taxpayer-funded food drive to benefit county pantries.

The commissioners’ role in a charitable campaign is unique among Southwest Ohio’s four county commissions – and possibly the state. But with zero general fund debt, the county can afford to donate, as commissioners did this year, $30,000 of taxpayer money to the drive.

The County Commissioners’ Association of Ohio said many counties often partner with the United Way on charitable campaigns, but its officials didn’t know of any county taking it further.

Commissioner Pat South originated the idea in 2006. She said “there’s a major need out there” that’s not being filled by government and social service agencies. She said those organizations have not been able to keep pace with the demand on food pantries.

Despite a relatively low unemployment rate – Warren County’s 5.8 percent unemployment rate in September was below the state’s 6.5 percent – there is still a need for food pantries in Ohio’s second-fastest-growing county.

“We still have a lot of people unemployed, and we have a ton of people under-employed,” South said.

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Posted in: News |

Tags: Tags: charity, commissioners, dave young, food drive, gina brown, mason food pantry, needy, pat south, united way, warren county

Mason Food Pantry Director Gina Brown. The Enquirer/Tony Jones

For hungry families, the Mason Food Pantry meets many needs (pride included)

Seven years ago, Janet Dale of Mason was living the good life.

Her husband, Roger, owned his own successful restoration business. The couple drove new cars and lived on the golf course. In her spare time, Janet volunteered with the Mason Food Pantry and other organizations.

That all changed one fateful night in 2005 when the houseboat her husband was a guest on lost power and was struck by a string of coal barges heading up the Ohio River. Roger Dale and three others were killed.

Suddenly Dale, a disabled grandmother who had custody of her two special-needs grandchildren, found herself seeking assistance from the same food pantry where she once volunteered.

“It was embarrassing,” said Dale of that first visit for assistance. “I had no insurance and no food. Without the support and help of the pantry, I don’t know what I’d do. It’s one less worry.”

Today, more than ever, middle-class families are looking to the Mason Food Pantry for assistance, said director Gina Brown.

• Mason Food Pantry gets new wheels

Items are categorized on shelves to make for easier shopping at the Mason Food Pantry. The Enquirer/Tony Jones

The nonprofit agency assists more than 500 people a month. Pantry operators used to see mostly unemployed poor people, but that is changing to people who have been laid off or elderly people who struggle to pay rent and buy medicine, she said.

“We always have our generational poor and minimum-wage families, but what we’ve had a tremendous increase of is the middle class,” Brown said. “These are people who thought they had made all the right choices, but a lot of them have not had jobs since 2008 or 2009. It doesn’t matter how financially responsible you are. If you have not had a job in three to four years, you’re hurting.”

“Our goal is to get them sustainable,” she added. “We’re set up to be temporary help, but some people need more help than that. We’ve gone from short-term immediate help to long-term assistance.”

PEANUT BUTTER, SOUP, CEREAL AND PET FOOD

It’s a sunny Wednesday morning at the Mason Food Pantry. The last remaining shoppers fill grocery carts donated by Kroger. Several volunteers take advantage of the lull to restock the refrigerator and shelves.

Wednesday mornings – one of three days each week clients can shop at the pantry – can be hectic here as people wait their turn to be escorted through a neat, but compact grocery area consisting of a variety of canned and boxed nutritional items, from peanut butter to soups to cereals – even pet food.

Volunteers work to make the 600-square-foot space appealing and inviting. A basket of faux ivy and jars of dried pasta adorn shelves. Art prints and a wooden plaque that reads “Family Matters” line the walls.

Clients are able to shop for the items they want, unlike traditional pantries, where they are handed a pre-packed box of items which they may or may not use.

“You don’t just get a box of standard items,” Dale said. “You could get home and there could be nothing you could eat or things your doctor says not to eat. Here you can shop for something to go with something you have. It feels more like a grocery store.”

Clients, who are eligible for up to $300 a month in assistance, shop on a point system based on household size, with each item’s point value relative to its retail cost.

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Posted in: Community, News |

Tags: Tags: charity, donations, food, gina brown, janet dale, mason food pantry, mason schools, needy, recession, unemployment

Makino USA CEO Don Lane hands Mason Food Pantry Director Gina Brown an envelope with a check to pay off the cost of a 2008 cargo van. The donation was made through the Lablond Foundation of Makino, an employee-funded charity. Provided

Gina Brown’s SUV has taken a beating since she joined the Mason Food Pantry three years ago.

A donation of toilet bowl cleaner spilled in her backseat, eating through the leather seats. On one hot summer day, jars of jalapeno juice leaked.

“I drove around the month of August with my car smelling like rotting trash and my eyes burning,” Brown said with a chuckle.

As the pantry’s director, Brown’s vehicle and its limited cargo space often served as the only means of transport for large donations made to the nonprofit agency, which serves more than 500 people each month.

But Brown — and her car — can now rest easy, thanks to employees at Makino USA Inc.

The Mason-based machine tool builder donated a 2008 cargo van to the pantry this week through its Lablond Foundation of Makino. The employee-funded foundation will distribute more than $70,000 to 32 area agencies this year.

• Photos: Mason Food Pantry serves up dignity

The donation came about after Makino employees organized a volunteer day at the pantry. Brown mentioned the pantry’s need for a van in passing to Service Parts Manager Mike Fleming, who also chairs the foundation.

A van, she told Fleming, would allow the pantry to accept and transport large-scale donations made by businesses — donations she’s had to pass up in the past due to limited means of transport.

“When we get these calls they have to be taken out of warehouses right away so they can make room for inventory,” explained Brown of corporate donations. “It’s been a logistical nightmare with not having the right-sized van.”

“I’ve had to turn down 2,000 pounds of lunchmeat, which would have fed over 1,600 families. That’s $15,000 in lunchmeat. The lunchmeat was good, but I didn’t have a vehicle I could have that much food in,” she said.

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Posted in: Business, Community, News |

Tags: Tags: business, cargo van, don lane, donation, gina brown, lablond foundation of makino, makino usa, mason, mason food pantry, mike fleming, van

Mason Food Pantry director Gina Grown instructs pantry client Janet Dale of Mason on the best way to peel a pomegranate. The pantry serves 500-600 people a month. The Enquirer/Rachel Richardson

Dine at Mason area restaurants next week and help the Mason Food Pantry.

Fifteen local restaurants will donate between 10-15 percent of sales when a voucher is presented on select days through Oct. 22-28 as part of Dine Out Mason.

The Mason Food Pantry serves more than 500 people who live in the Mason School District each month.  While pantry operators used to see mostly unemployed poor people, those numbers are changing to people who have been laid off or elderly people who struggle to pay rent and buy medicine, said Director Gina Brown.

“We’ve had a tremendous increase of is the middle class,” she said Brown.  “Our goal is to get them sustainable.  We’re set up to be temporary help, but some people need more help than that.  We’ve gone from short-term immediate help to long-term assistance.”

Download voucher online at www.masonfoodpantry.org/#!dine-out-mason/cx85 or call participating restaurants.  Participating restaurants are listed after the fold.

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Posted in: Community, Events |

Tags: Tags: charity, dine out mason, dining, faith church, food, fundraiser, gina brown, mason food pantry, restaurants