Columbus charity strained by rising food prices, increased demand

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A charity organization is combatting the soaring prices of groceries with public cabinets known as “Blessing Boxes.”

The Columbus Blessing Boxes Project has over 100 boxes for those in need across central Ohio. These allow people to anonymously donate items and take things that they need like non-perishable foods, basic toiletries and more. 

Founder Gretchen Davis said in recent months, the boxes have seen an increase of use. People even leave notes asking for certain items and saying thank you.    

“We have several groups of volunteers that go out weekly or biweekly, and we have heard from them that what they normally put in boxes, the normal amount is not going nearly as far as it used to,” Davis said. “They are reaching out to us asking for more help than they ever had before.” 

The strain is even being felt by volunteers like Michael Smith, who donates to the Blessing Boxes.     

“The biggest impact has been on those of us that are trying to raise money and buy food, our costs have increased significantly,” Smith said. “So, we just can't get enough money for the same donations.” 

Another volunteer, Katelyn Jacquay, said the number of Blessing Boxes she has been able to provide for has also changed in recent months due to inflation.  

“Instead of doing a route of 10 to 12 boxes like I used to do, we can usually do five or six in a week,” Jacquay said. “So even I've had to scale back the number of boxes I can do with the same amount of money.” 

Though there has been high demand, this group shows no signs of stopping the work they are doing and encourage community members to do the same.  

"Remember your neighbors, be generous. Let's take care of them as much as we can within our neighborhood at the local level, you know, we don't have to depend on the world to solve our problems,” Smith said.  

Davis is still looking ahead to what their group can do in the future for all those in need in and around Columbus. 

“My hope moving forward with this is to continue to expand our project,” Davis said. “Every year we add some more boxes, which is wonderful, and my hope is to involve more children to learn about giving back to their community.”