More than 450 local organizations donate food to the Food Bank each year, including manufacturers, grocery store chains and other local organizations.

The Greater Cleveland Food Bank also receives donations from food wholesalers, distributors, Feeding America, local food drives such as Harvest for Hunger, restaurants, caterers and other sources, such as the United States Department of Agriculture and the Ohio Food Purchase Program.

In 2020, the Greater Cleveland Food Bank distributed food and essential non-food products to more than 1,000 hunger relief programs in six-county service area that includes Cuyahoga, Lake, Geauga, Ashtabula, Richland and Ashland counties.

In our service territory, one in six people is food insecure – meaning they may not know where their next meal will come from. Of those that are food insecure, nearly 50% are seniors and children. Additional food insecure recipients include the working poor, the unemployed, and those with health challenges.

Agencies are charged a "shared maintenance fee" for some of the items they order. Some items, such as produce, bread, yogurt are distributed to member agencies for free. Other nonperishable food items cost up to 9 cents per pound. This shared maintenance fee covers some, but not all, of the costs associated with food solicitation, repackaging and distribution. We must recoup the additional expenses through our fundraising efforts.

As an example, a member agency can get a box of cereal at the Food Bank for about 9 cents. If agencies were to purchase a box of cereal at a supermarket, they could pay $3.50 or more for the same item.

No fee is ever charged to hungry families.

The Food Bank works closely with other Northeast Ohio hunger relief organizations, providing food and nonfood products to hunger centers administered by the Hunger Network of Greater Cleveland, the Catholic Hunger and Shelter Network, and the Salvation Army, among others.

Cash is the most needed item. For every dollar donated, the Greater Cleveland Food Bank can distribute four nutritious meals to hungry people in our community. You can make a secure, online donation here.

An appointment is not needed to drop off food. We are able to accept food donations Monday-Friday between the hours of 8:30-3:30 at our facility, located at 15500 South Waterloo Road, Cleveland, 44110. Please pull around to the back of our building and up to the first truck door on the right (marked “All Donations”), ring the bell outside the door and a member of our warehouse staff will be out to assist you. Our staff will unload and weigh the items in order to provide you with a receipt for the donation.

Please mail financial contributions to the Greater Cleveland Food Bank at 15500 South Waterloo Rd., Cleveland, OH 44110. Your donation is tax-deductible as provided by law.

Volunteers are essential to our work and are needed to sort and repack food donations, assist with office work, serve on committees, and help with special events.

Learn more about volunteering.

Families are welcome, but children under 12 years of age may only attend during a family night event.

Learn more about volunteering.

It is very important that you contact the Volunteer Services team at 216.738.2069 ahead of time to schedule your visit or sign up here. This way, a project will be ready for you when you arrive at the Food Bank. Please also note that many evening and Saturday volunteer shifts are filled in advance.

Learn more about volunteering.

We have a variety of volunteer shifts. Please look online or call us at 216.738.7240.

We are located at 15500 South Waterloo Rd., Cleveland, OH 44110 just east of downtown Cleveland in the Collinwood neighborhood.

Please call us at 216.738.2265 or email us.