LORAIN — Julie Chase-Morefield is too familiar with the drill in which she talks about the ever-rising numbers of people needing food in the four-county region served by Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio.

“Someday, I’d love to report that the need has gone down significantly,” Chase-Morefield said Tuesday. “I’ll be happy to make that call.”

She knows that isn’t going to happen anytime soon.

The Lorain-based agency released information Tuesday that stated the demand for emergency food assistance at the 82 food pantries served by Second Harvest in Lorain, Erie, Huron and Crawford counties has soared by 46,000 people or 56 percent since 2007, when 29,000 people were served.

“It used to be that people would say they didn’t know anyone affected by this. Now everyone knows someone … a friend, neighbor or relative … who’s struggling.”

While cities such as Elyria and Lorain were always among those whose residents received food from Second Harvest, the hunger relief organization is now seeing a need in cities including North Ridgeville, Avon and Avon Lake.

“We’re seeing a need in areas where there wasn’t much need before,” Chase-Morefield said. “We’re seeing a change in communities that weren’t struggling before.”

The huge jump in demand for food at the 160 food pantries, and mostly church-run hot meal programs in the four counties supplied by Second Harvest is indicative of the grim economic picture that continues to plague the area. Second Harvest has boosted its distribution of food by 42.5 percent from 2008, when a record 4 million pounds was handed out. The agency expects to distribute more than 5.5 million pounds of food by the end of 2009, Chase-Morefield said.

She credited a dedicated network of hunger relief agencies, and more stimulus money for food-commodities programs with keeping everyone fed. Wal-Mart Supercenters in the four-county area have provided significant amounts of day-old bread and produce and frozen meats.

Figures released Tuesday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services revealed statewide unemployment at 10.5 percent in October. The same figure was reported for Lorain and Erie counties. October’s 10.5 percent jobless figure for Lorain and Erie counties represents an increase 1.4 percent over September for both counties. Lorain County’s two biggest cities also experienced hikes in joblessness, with Elyria rising from 9.5 to 10.5 percent, while Lorain went from 11.1 percent in September to 12.8 percent in October.

Huron County had one of the highest unemployment rates of any county in northern Ohio, rising from 12.8 percent in September to 13.4 percent in October.

“It’s not a big county, but there have been so many plants closed, and a lot of smaller companies have gone under there,” Chase-Morefield said.

The worst blow came with last year’s closing of Norwalk Furniture. The firm has since re-opened under a new name but is employing only about half of the roughly 500 who once worked there, Chase-Morefield said.

The area’s continuing depressed economy has seen some 10 new food pantry or hot meal programs spring up in the four counties during the past year.

“We’ve heard some sad stories,” Chase-Morefield said. “People tell us they’re putting every dollar into saving their house, and there’s no money left for food.”

Contact Steve Fogarty at 329-7146 or sfogarty@chroniclet.com.

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