DAYTON, Ohio (WJW) — A food bank in Dayton is currently serving 600 families every two hours, thanks in part to a more than $450,000 donation from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.
According to WKEF, Bezos awarded $453,707 to the nonprofit organization Feeding America on Wednesday, who in return donated more than $200,000 of those funds to 100 area food agencies.
The Dayton Foodbank is grateful for the donation as the effects of the coronavirus outbreak have left them busier than ever before.
“A lot of people may be laid off right now, high bills, children at home, really struggling to make ends meet,” Lee Lauren Truesdale, Chief Development Officer at The Foodbank, told WKEF. “So we are here to provide this food.”
Thanks to Bezos’ donation, the food bank was able replenish is quickly diminishing supply and continue serving Dayton residents at their drive-thru warehouse; this new distribution method was established to practice social distancing amid the pandemic.
Dayton Foodbank officials say half the people coming to the food distribution site have never needed a food bank before.
More than 468,000 Ohioans have applied for unemployment in the last two weeks and foodbank officials say many are struggling to make ends meet while they await their benefits.
The Dayton Foodbank’s next distributions are on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 10 a.m. to noon.
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