Nationwide associates repacking pasta at the Foodbank

The Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank announced that they have received a grant of $45,000 from the Nationwide Insurance Foundation. The Akron-Canton Regional is receiving the funds as a part of a $1.25 million donation being made to the national office of Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger relief organization, and 21 of its member food banks in communities where Nationwide Insurance employees live and work.

“We are very grateful to receive this donation from the Nationwide Insurance Foundation,” said Dan Flowers, president and CEO of the Foodbank. “Nationwide is a strong partner in the fight against hunger and very committed to helping those in need in our community.”

“Nationwide is honored to support the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank,” said Chad Jester, president of Nationwide Insurance Foundation. “We’re also proud of the Nationwide employees who selflessly give of their time and energy in support of hunger-relief initiatives. At Nationwide, we believe we can do more together than we can alone.”

In addition to Nationwide Insurance Foundation’s financial support, thousands of Nationwide employees donate to food drives and volunteer at food banks across the country each year. Earlier this month, 20 local Nationwide associates came to the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank to volunteer and help repack food that will be distributed to more than 460 different agencies in the Foodbank’s eight-county service are. In 2010, Feeding America awarded Nationwide Insurance the Group Volunteer Service of the Year award for the company’s work with the Mid-Ohio Foodbank.

The grant funding is coming at a time of particular need as food insecurity remains high in Northeast Ohio according to Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap data. For example, in the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank service area 15.7 percent of residents are food insecure.