WASHINGTON – Today,Rep. Marcia L. Fudge (OH-11), along with Members of the Ohio Congressional delegation, sent a letter urging U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue to act swiftly on the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services’ (ODJFS) request to operate the Disaster Household Feeding Program.  The request gives food banks in the state of Ohio additional flexibility to continue providing critical food supplies to individuals impacted by coronavirus mitigation efforts.

“Ohioans are facing significant economic challenges as the country takes action to halt the spread of COVID-19,” wrote the Members.  “As more Ohioans lose work, emergency food providers in every part of the state are seeing a massive increase in demand for food assistance.”

With Ohio’s emergency food system under significant strain, the Members noted “ODJFS requires more tools and additional flexibilities to meet increasing demand while keeping staff, volunteers, and clients safe.”

The Members went on to say, “Approval of Ohio’s Disaster Household Feeding Program will help protect the lives, safety and health of the citizens of Ohio and reduce the rapid spread of COVID-19.”

The letter was also signed by Reps. Troy Balderson (OH-12), Joyce Beatty (OH-3), Steve Chabot (OH-1), Anthony Gonzalez (OH-16), David Joyce (OH-14), Marcy Kaptur (OH-9), Bob Latta (OH-5), Tim Ryan (OH-13), Steve Stivers (OH-15), Mike Turner (OH-10), and Brad Wenstrup (OH-2), as well as Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Rob Portman (R-OH).

The text of the letter can be found here.

###