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. For the past two season, The Scioto Society has been running a ticket discount program aiming to ease the stress on the local food pantries.
“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 CEO, Brandon Smith.
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 2PM on the day of the show, be limited to one per person and are not available over the phone or online.
The Scioto Society has partnered with a food bank in each county. In June, The Emergency Clearinghouse of Circleville will handle the donations. August will feature the Pike County Outreach Council of Churches as the partner organization. Ross County will receive the July donations which will be gathered and distributed by St. Vincent de Paul Society at St. Peters 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.
It is estimated that between 600 and 1300 cans will be collected each Monday night resulting in 2400-5200 cans going to each county. The program has collected over 10,000 cans of food since it began in 2015.
“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.” concluded Smith.