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Each spring, Knox County resident and mom Brienne thinks ahead to summer. She isn’t choosing vacation spots, however. She’s running her household’s food budget months beforehand.
“I find myself in springtime knowing that school will let out,” Brienne said. “In March or April, I’ll be thinking, ‘OK, we’re going to have to set aside a bigger budget for groceries.’”
Brienne’s husband David works full time selling phones on commission, making his income unpredictable. Their two middle school-aged boys can get free breakfasts and lunches at school, but that ends when summer arrives. The usual pressure is even higher this year.
A promised raise didn’t happen for David at work, and his hours are being cut. Brienne, who has a bachelor’s degree and years of experience, recently lost her full-time marketing job in higher education. A colleague told her that she was being replaced by AI writing tools.
“Prior to the job loss, we were pretty stable. We couldn’t put a lot back into savings, but we could afford a couple of extras at the end of the month,” David said. “Between the cost of everything going up and our jobs going away, we had to ask for help.”
Through school, the kids learned about a new program offered through Mid-Ohio Kitchen, the prepared foods division of Mid-Ohio Food Collective. Since the start of June, weekly drop-offs of fresh, pre-made kids’ meals have arrived on Brienne and David’s rural doorstep. Each delivery has enough breakfasts and lunches for the two boys for a week.
The Knox County home delivery program is the newest part of MOFC’s summer feeding efforts to help kids who are out of school. Unlike a traditional summer feeding site where kids from many families gather to eat, this new effort brings multiple meals to individual families. It’s designed to help rural communities where group meals aren’t practical, and the delivery days have been a highlight for Brienne’s sons.
“The kids go on the porch and say, ‘the food fairy is here.’ Having breakfasts and lunches covered for them is such a relief.”
“It’s been exciting. The kids go on the porch and say, ‘the food fairy is here,’” Brienne said. “Having breakfasts and lunches covered for them is such a relief. I was able to place a grocery order and think, ‘This bill isn’t going to kill us. We’re going to be OK.”
MOFC’s summer meal home delivery program is available only in Knox County this year, though it may expand to other rural communities in 2027. Eligibility is based on income and other factors, and recipients are approved through local school districts that partner with MOFC.
This summer is the first time Brienne and David have used direct food assistance, but they aren’t strangers to hunger. Prior to the job she recently lost, Brienne wrote for a hunger relief nonprofit in Franklin County. She never expected to be on the other side. David grew up poor. His family often stretched a bag of potatoes into a week’s worth of meals.
“The stress of not knowing where your next meal is going to come from cascades into every other part of life,” David said. “Do you let that utility bill be late so you can eat? Can you skip your car payment and avoid your car getting repoed so you can buy groceries?”
Brienne and David said their financial situation is becoming more common in rural Ohio as inflation grows and more professionals lose their jobs to AI. David has even heard of some neighbors using credit cards or high-interest buy-now, pay-later apps to purchase food.
“It’s a debt pit, and a lot of folks are going to find themselves in those situations more frequently without some short-term or mid-term help,” he said.
The couple is doing what they can to improve their situation. They’re considering a move to a more active job market, and David is working on a new professional certification. Brienne is pursuing her master’s degree in the hopes of landing work but going back to school means taking out student loans.
For now, the kids’ meals from the “food fairy” are giving the couple breathing space. Brienne wants others to understand what her family is facing and the systemic problems that led them there. Sometimes everyone needs a hand, she said.
“They say ‘go to school, go back to school, get a second job, work harder.’ Well, there’s only so much of that you can do without help,” Brienne said.
“We’re trying to be working class. Both of us are hard-working adults who’d like to be working for pay that we can raise our family of four on. We’d love to be doing everything on our own, but programs like this are pivotal for families who are trying to make it.”
MOFC is running its annual “No School Means No Lunch” campaign to support meal delivery and other children’s hunger relief programs. Visit mofc.org/summer to learn more and donate today.
