DAYTON — Days after storms hit the Miami Valley, residents and businesses are still trying to recover from the damage and what was lost.
Thousands were without power, some for days, which meant some residents had to throw out food that went bad.
Because of this, food pantries have seen an increase in the number of people who need help.
On average, the Catholic Social Services in Dayton said they serve between 80 to 100 households, but after the storms hit they served more than 140.
“We are absolutely hearing from the people that we’re serving that the power outages have impacted the food that they have,” Laura Roesch, chief executive officer of Catholic Social Services said.
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But the weather isn’t the only factor making it more difficult for people to feed their families.
Inflation is the highest it’s been in 40 years, causing an uptick in prices such as gas.
This forces many families to make a difficult choice, Lauren Tapple, develop marketing manager with the Dayton Foodbank explained.
“If they were already struggling to pay for gas, to pay for their utility bill and make sure they get the fresh foods that they need for a healthy diet, then gas prices ... that makes it a little bit more difficult,” Tapple said
A full list of food banks that serve Ohio can be found on Feeding America’s website here.
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