Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Food Security topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee advances $80,000 ARPA award for Hunger Network hot-meal program
Summary
Cuyahoga Countys Healthy Human Services and Aging Committee voted to advance Resolution R2025-0216, a proposal to award up to $80,000 in ARPA community grant funds to the Hunger Network to support 17 hot-meal sites and the Cleveland Kosher Food Pantry. The item will go to full council for second reading.
The Cuyahoga County Healthy Human Services and Aging Committee voted July 2 to advance Resolution R2025-0216, which would award up to $80,000 from district ARPA community grant funds to the Hunger Network of Greater Cleveland to support its hot-meal sites and the Cleveland Kosher Food Pantry.
Hunger Network CEO Julie Johnson and Hunger Relief Program Director Emma Messett told the committee the organization operates 17 hot-meal sites countywide and rescues prepared food for redistribution. Messett said the agency served more than 46,000 meals in 2024 and that 2025 rates so far average about 4,500 meals per month—roughly an 18% increase compared with 2024 and a projected more-than-50,000 meals for the year if current trends hold.
Johnson said the decline in FEMA Emergency Food and Shelter Program funding after COVID forced the agency to reduce pantry sites and preserve hot-meal programming; she estimated that the $80,000 award would sustain current operations for roughly 10 months given prior operating expenditures. Johnson outlined sustainability steps including a new "food rescue kitchen" to process rescued foods into flash-frozen meals and potential subcontracting opportunities if state cohort funding materializes.
Council President Miller said the countys intent is that the ARPA dollars serve as bridge funding toward a broader $100,000 project total; he and others noted an additional $20,000 the county executive plans to provide from the emergency food fund, though the mechanism for that contribution was described as "not yet specified." Councilmember Sweeney and others expressed support for the proposal.
Johnson also cited Ohio's Good Samaritan law in explaining legal protections for donors and described the Food Rescue Hero app as a tracking tool the Hunger Network uses to trace donations and manage recalls, which she offered to provide to the committee.
The committee voted to move R2025-0216 to full council under second reading (next procedural step noted by the chair). The Hunger Network thanked the committee and said it will continue to operate sites while the funding request moves through council.
The resolution will appear on the council calendar for second reading and later third reading if advanced by full council.
