By Jordan Abbruzzese | Photos by Polly Sellers
This story first appeared in the September 2025 edition of (614) Magazine. © 2025 (614) Media Group. Reproduced with permission.
Representative Crystal Lett, a Columbus-area native out of Hilliard, didn’t always plan to run for office. Beginning her career in mental health advocacy at North Central Community Mental Health Services in Columbus, Lett worked with young folks with mental health disorders—many of which dealt with food insecurity.
“I served Franklin County in particular, and at the time I linked them with Mid-Ohio at large, and I knew they had programming that would be beneficial for kiddos to volunteer,” explained Lett. “It was a two prong approach, accessing them for what the kids needed, but also engaging in opportunities to have those kiddos learn how to give back.”
As a parent of a child with health issues, Representative Lett has firsthand experience with what the community needs, and what they are able to access.
“The thing I struggled with the most with my own child was that access component,” said Lett. “I know what it feels like to be hanging on by an actual thread.”
During back-to-school time, parents are spending more than usual on fees, clothes, and supplies. Families who are already paycheck to paycheck may need to utilize a food pantry to eat three meals a day and keep their families fed. Food banks are saving these families by filling in the gaps when parents don’t have the opportunity to change employment or earn higher wages. For many of these families, the parents are already working more than one job.
When it comes to working with the government to advocate for food insecurity services like Mid-Ohio Food Collective, Representative Lett feels that elected officials should be prioritizing food pantry funding, and making sure they have the resources they need to feed the community, all within a more sustainable funding model.
“BEING A PART OF SOMETHING THAT IS BIGGER THAN YOU BRINGS YOUR WHOLE COMMUNITY TOGETHER, AND IS DEEP, MEANINGFUL, AND PURPOSEFUL.”
“We have to make harder cases for why this money is important. It’s aspirational and is the right, smart, and economically-wise thing to do for our people and for our state,” said Representative Lett.
While Representative Lett is in a unique position to help make a difference, you do not need to be an elected official or a celebrity to make a change. Lett believes strongly that it’s beneficial for us all to have a society where we can lean on each other, and serve one another. The service leader has “never regretted” a time she showed up and got involved.
“Being a part of something that is bigger than you brings your whole community together, and is deep, meaningful, and purposeful,” said Representative Lett.
Visit MOFC.org to learn how to get involved.
