Community Corner

Friends Come Together to Fight Hunger

Chicks Against Hunger continues to grow

A year and a half ago, Kim Krall was doing the thing many laid-off people do: Networking to try and find job opportunities.

Instead, an opportunity to make a difference came her way.

Krall met someone while networking who volunteered at Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio. A comment he made while they were chatting was an inspiration to Krall and she, along with longtime friends Sherry Lunt and AnnMarie Nyikes formed Chicks Against Hunger. The three Chicks have held food drives in Avon to help people in need in Lorain County.

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"(The Second Harvest volunteer) said that there weren't many donations from the Avon area," Krall said.

That hit home for her because, being out of work at the time without any immediate prospects, she realized that a family in need could look very much like her own.

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Need for food help isn't just in inner cities and poor rural areas anymore, Krall said she's learned since starting Chicks Against Hunger. Hunger has come home to surburbia. It can be down the street or in your Facebook friends list.

According to a report from Feeding America, one in six people are receiving food assistance in the area served by Second Harvest Food Bank of Northern Ohio. That's 77,200 people, including almost 32,000 children and 3,900 senior citizens.

Using just their email address books

The three women, who have been friends for more than 10 years, brought only their email address books, their pluck and ebullient senses of humor to something they had no idea how to do.

"We just started emailing everyone we knew, and posting on Facebook," Lunt said.

The name of the group came from an evening of girl talk. It wasn't too serious, Lunt said, but it wasn't too silly. It fit them.

The women were "blown away," in the words of Lunt, when friends and family donated whole bags of food. They were blown away again when informed by Second Harvest that they had collected 2,174 pounds of food.

Their first thought?

"We have to do this again!" Krall said.

And so they have. This year, the Chicks held four food drives and collected 4,293 pounds of food.

As the group has continued, each has brought their own skills to the table.

Employed again

Krall, who has since found work at Provider Services as a case manager for two skilled nursing facilities, is the one who often take the lead, the women say, with her organizational skills and her extensive contacts.

Lunt, who is in charge of marketing for her family's retirement planning business, is the creative one, handling public relations.

Nyikes, who works at Church on the Rise in Westlake, is hands-on, digging in wherever there's a need with a persistence that inspires the other two.

"We work well together and, well, laugh a lot," Lunt said.

An amazing year

This has been an amazing year, the women say, with many touching moments.

Krall remembers doing a pick-up for one of their food drives at the  to bring to Second Harvest, as the participants in the YMCA's Kids Camp had made donations. Krall is a board member at the YMCA.

"(The kids) were so excited over how much they collected, and they helped fill the car," she said. "I had tears in my eyes seeing how generous these kids were, and how eager to help, because I knew many of their families could be receiving food assistance (or have gotten it in the past). Even though these kids don't have much, they still want to give and help others."

Nyikes said the instinctive kindness and generosity of her Avon friends and neighbors is what has stood out this year.

"When we were at the Y, we had a huge SUV," she said. "Once we got all the food in, there was hardly room for anyone to get into it."

All you have to do is ask

The women have learned that a lot can be had by simply asking.

"We'd go to places like and ask if we could put a donation box there," Lunt said. "We'd ask friends to buy some extra peanut butter or soup next time they went to the store, and they did. No one said 'no.' People are willing to help if they know what to do."

The group has branched out. Their food drives, such as at or , have been for Second Harvest. This fall, they held a "Non-Food Drive," collecting more than $1,500 worth of toiletries, health and personal care items for .

And next year, they will take another big step, filing to get 501(c)3 status as a non-profit organization. That would serve two big purposes. First, the group could begin accepting cash donations, which they could use to buy food in bulk for donation. Second, any donations to the group would be tax-deductible.


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