03/12/2024
Elyria Hospitality Center
2025 Annual Report
This has been an interesting and challenging year. We have seen the numbers of people we serve greatly increase.
Current statistics reflect that we have distributed enough food in 2025 for over 162,000 meals. Due to the higher food costs which are staying high, more and more families are struggling to make ends meet. We are grateful that we are able to help meet their needs.
Food availability has been somewhat erratic.
Second Harvest Foodbank of North Central Ohio is still experiencing a reduction in donated food acquisitions.
Donated food took a dramatic drop due to stores reducing inventory while working hard to streamline their operations.
Purchased food had seen a very large increase. How does this affect us? Basic food items were not always available due to manufacturing or transportation cost issues and food availability. This not only affected Second Harvest but it also affected our ability to obtain food on a local level from supermarkets.
Shelf stable food has stabilized but costs remain increased.
USDA food had also seen a decrease due to availability, costs and shipping costs.
We purchased food from local stores that may have the product available. We do shop at Dollar Tree, Marc’s, Sam’s Club, Aldi’s, Meijer’s and Apples. Throughout the year our expenditures on purchased food has been equal to or often exceeding last years.
We are not the only pantry experiencing this issue.
We did have monetary donations throughout the year though initially they were scarce but they did pick up throughout the year. We are extremely grateful to every individual and organization who have been so generous in supporting our operation.
There are some churches and individuals who are constant food donors and we extend sincere thanks for all they do. They do make a difference in our ability to serve our population.
We also were able to obtain a couple of grants from our local utilities and fraternal organizations. The grants from the utility companies help to make a huge difference allowing us to purchase shelf stable food.
We did change our holiday preparations. We provided turkeys (36) which were available to larger families. Smaller families were given chickens or other desired meat. We were able to provide hams (40) at Christmas time to our clients. Both of these meat items were provided/purchased by a local individual donor. We desire to express extreme gratitude.
Clothing room has been busy. The staff has been working very hard to take care of our clients and to work the constant incoming donations. We also have to redonate some donations due to volume we have been receiving.
We have a steady volunteer work force at this time. A few volunteers left, for various reasons, but we were able to welcome two new volunteers. Our volunteer staff has exceeded all expectations for service. We recorded a total of 4,074 hours to time donated by our volunteers.
Thank you to all for your dedication and commitment to serving the needy in our community
That pretty much outlines our happenings for 2025.
What to look forward to?? We will continue to have discussions about providing healthy food options such as fresh fruit and vegetables that we would not normally receive from Second Harvest or local donors. We do attempt to purchase cost effective produce from local vendors when available.
We will discuss our needs on Board staffing, and a need for grant writers. Our need for new Board members is always there and new faces often bring new thoughts and initiatives.
Needs:
Board Staff: We are actively seeking community/corporation based individuals who would desire to serve on our Board.
Monetary Donations: Always welcome and definitely needed regardless of size. We do have recurring costs such as rent, internet, cleaning supplies. Donations can be made on our website (ElyriaHospitalityCenter.org) using paypal, mailing a donation to our address P.O. Box 451, Elyria, Ohio 44035, or dropping it off at the facility when we are open.
100% of monetary donations are used for the operation of the pantry. All staff including management are volunteers.
Any donation amount, especially on a recurring basis are needed and greatly appreciated.
Food Needs: Varies by the month. We strive to provide a solid selection of basics to ensure clients will have the proper availability of food products for a minimum of three days of meals. We often exceed this.
Food donations are always welcome.
