The share of Ohio households reporting limited or uncertain ability to provide nutritious meals averaged 16 percent from 2011 to 2013. Ohio is among eight states whose rates remained significantly higher than the national average of 14.6 percent. Southern Ohio in particular struggles with hunger. Last season The Scioto Society took steps to help with the problem and with the success of previous summer’s promotion are keeping it going throughout 2019.
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“The Scioto Society believes it has a responsibility to assist, when it can, with economic issues that the residents in our target counties of Pike, Ross, and Pickaway face. Hunger in these areas in among the most severe in the US. We can help, and while this program isn’t going to fix the problem we believe it will make an impact,” said Scioto Society CEO Brandon Smith.
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Each Monday night during the Tecumseh! season, residents of Ohio will be invited to save $10 on their regular adult tickets when provide proof of residence and at least two cans of food per person. Tickets will be available beginning at 2 p.m. on the day of the show, be limited to one per person, and are not available over the phone or online. Residents of other counties are welcome to bring canned food along but will not be eligible for the discount.
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“The Scioto Society was set up over 40 years ago to target its efforts in three counties, so we simply use that as a guide for many of the programs that we do. This one is no different," said Smith. "Last year, we followed the lead of other leading Ohio tourist attractions like Kings Island and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame who offer discount options only to the residents of the counties that the attraction is in. It’s a fairly standard ‘best practice’ in the industry. But we heard from people all over the state who wanted to participate, so we’ve opened the discount up to any resident of Ohio.”
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The Scioto Society has partnered with a food bank in each county. In June, The Pike County Outreach Council handled the donations. July has featured the Pickaway County Food Bank as the partner organization. Ross County will receive the August donations, which will be gathered and distributed by St. Peter's Church. Each organization will be on site during their Monday evenings to gather and sort the donations and provide information on the work they do.
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It is estimated that between 600 and 1300 cans will be collected each Monday night resulting in 2400-5200 cans going to each county, and a total of nearly 50,000 cans since the program started.
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“The American Theatre has a great history of providing not only a physical place to connect with other people, but often the subject matter for the great discussions of our time. We believe that our communities are stronger-socially, politically, economically and culturally- when we join together to tackle the issues facing us. That’s part of the reason why we’re doing so many new events this summer, many of them free. We think we will create a stronger community by simply providing the time and place to gather. And while we’re doing that, we’re going to help some hungry neighbors. I’m extremely proud of this initiative and hope that everyone will take advantage of the discount,” said Smith.