Number of Requests for Food to Food Pantries in Franklin County: 1981-1997

On the average, 45,454 requests were made per month to the Franklin County food pantry system in 1997. Nearly half (46.8%) of all people who receive food at food pantries are children. 11.3% of those who turn to pantries for help are elderly people living on limited pensions. The average of monthly requests to food pantries in Franklin County has shown sharp increases in the last two years. The busiest month for food requests has always been December.

Requests are counted by the number of people in the household. Every time someone comes into a pantry, it is counted as a request. For example, when a family of three comes in for food, it is counted as three requests. If the same family returns to the food pantry system, it is counted as three more requests.

Number of Requests for Food to Franklin County Food Pantries: 1981-1990

Month           1981    1985    1986     1987    1988    1989     1990    

January        9,452   35,542  34,646  30,953   27,514  34,564  38,458
February       7,587   26,421  25,827  23,700   26,292  32,834  32,015
March          7,620   32,770  27,665  26,870   29,063  37,189  36,574
April          7,234   29,474  27,222  25,283   27,978  32,624  32,921
May            6,659   28,922  23,958  23,832   27,796  34,573  35,552
June           8,266   25,504  22,980  27,228   26,181  33,956  33,994
July           9,003   31,399  26,331  26,142   26,449  33,810  36,684
August         8,793   28,554  23,362  24,070   26,374  39,043  39,287
September      8,481   24,968  22,604  27,061   30,150  34,802  33,373
October        8,640   26,508  25,753  26,344   30,187  36,224  37,985
November       8,392   26,968  29,279  28,615   33,584  37,357  40,153
December      18,869   42,671  45,712  48,236   38,967  53,700  50,690    
 
Totals       108,996  359,701 335,339 338,334  350,535 439,950 447,686  
Monthly Avg.  11,803   29,975  27,945  28,200   29,211  36,663  37,307

Number of Requests for Food to Franklin County Food Pantries: 1991-1997

  
Month          1991    1992    1993    1994     1995     1996     1997

January      38,335  37,928  32,665  32,765   35,632   37,059   43,495
February     34,511  32,264  30,341  30,016   32,895   34,932   38,331
March        37,028  38,395  37,126  37,784   40,000   37,255   41,216
April        38,851  36,464  35,848  35,085   34,329   39,327   43,536
May          35,789  33,464  32,410  35,113   37,544   38,273   42,859
June         35,412  33,905  34,218  36,964   36,274   36,835   43,025
July         42,025  38,206  34,101  35,042   35,761   41,802   46,354
August       38,486  34,402  36,141  39,707   40,565   40,935   45,525
September    35,857  34,879  35,457  35,622   37,124   40,140   46,295
October      42,497  35,508  35,879  36,916   38,699   43,873   49,771
November     41,952  40,299  38,092  40,092   39,976   44,079   49,836
December     57,739  54,766  53,515  49,716   43,665   46,952   55,208

Totals      478,502 450,480 435,793 435,793  452,464  481,462  545,451
Monthly Avg. 39,875  37,540  36,316  37,069   37,705   40,122   45,454

Note: These figures are requests to all of the food pantries within the Mid-Ohio Food Bank system, including all larger pantries and most smaller ones in Franklin County. However, a full count would include those who apply elsewhere, such as soup kitchens and pantries that are not associated with the FoodBank.

Source: Mid-Ohio Food Bank

Filename: SI-002

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