Food From Friends is an Akron based, family run, non-profit charity whose founders realized food insecurity was a real issue in the Firestone Park area. In 2022 we offered 4-day food bags at Thanksgiving and Christmas to a neighborhood preschool and alternative high school. We also helped start a pantry in the preschool. That year our family packed 210 bags of food in our home and knew we needed and wanted to do more.

We incorporated as a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation in 2023. We worked with two additional public schools in the area and packed a total of 790 bags of food that would feed a child for four days.

While other organizations pack and distribute weekend bags, we saw a need to help when students are on holiday breaks from school. Four days of food (breakfast, lunch, fruit, snack and treat) help ensure they won’t go hungry. The size of our bags are important. The bags can’t be too heavy for a child to walk home with and four days of food fill a plastic grocery bag almost to the top.

As our organization expanded so did our volunteer base. Friends, neighbors, employees heard about our organization and wanted to get involved. Today we have over 49 volunteers who help pack and distribute the bags. After an evening of packing everyone goes home with a happy heart.