VIDEO: Portman Highlights How Federal COVID-19 Response Legislation Has Helped Food Access & Distribution at Greater Cleveland Food Bank

In a new video, Senator Portman discusses his visit to the Greater Cleveland Food Bank to thank the volunteers and National Guard members for their help in distributing food throughout Northeast Ohio during the pandemic and to see first-hand how funding from the CARES Act has helped food access and distribution efforts. 

Portman also made the case for extending the Ohio National Guard’s deployment through the end of the year. Last month, Senator Portman led an Ohio delegation letter to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Peter Gaynor and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper urging them to support Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s request to extend full federal funding for the Ohio National Guard’s COVID-19 response mission through the end of the year. Most recently, President Trump extended federal funding for the Ohio National Guard COVID response mission through the end of the year at 75 percent federal funding.

A transcript of the video can be found below and the video can be found here.

“I'm here at the Greater Cleveland Food Bank and just had the opportunity to tour another foodbank to see our National Guard at work. Unbelievable. We have Guard men and women who are devoting themselves to helping provide food for their communities. Most everybody I met today was from Cleveland, and they know people who have food insecurity issues, who need food. So for them, it's really fulfilling. Also got to talk to the staff about what the needs are right now. There are three different programs that have been funded through the CARES legislation - the new legislation. One is helping with regard to school nutrition programs. Another one is with regard to our agricultural produce, USDA. There's one that I find particularly interesting, which is the Farmers to Families program where food distributors are taking Ohio farm products and providing them to the foodbanks, which is really important. We've got to keep this going. Unfortunately, the federal help for the Guard has been decreased this week. And my hope is that states like Ohio will continue to use the Guard. In the meantime, I'm trying to get the federal government to go back to a 100 percent reimbursement for the Guard for this purpose because it is so essential right now. Volunteers, a lot of them are seniors, cannot safely come in. Some are starting to come back again. But in the meantime, the Guard is doing an awesome job.”