Miami Valley Meals marks five years of fighting food insecurity
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — Miami Valley Meals is marking five years of service, delivering over one million meals to those in need across Montgomery County.
But the need remains high, with data showing that one in seven people in Montgomery County still struggle with food insecurity.
Miami Valley Meals has given 1M meals in less than 5 years
Miami Valley Meals and its partners say residents are still feeling the devastating effects from the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2019 tornado outbreak. These are just some of the driving forces behind the food insecurity crisis in Montgomery County in 2025.
'Fast forward a few years, we're still rebuilding from those tornadoes, during the pandemic. It was really a double whammy,' said Amanda DeLotelle, founder of Miami Valley Meals.
And from this need, Miami Valley Meals was born in 2020.
'Food security is not having reliable access to healthy food or regular access,' said DeLotelle. 'So it might be some of your neighbors that are making choices about, 'am I going to have dinner tonight or am I going to buy my medicine?''
Over the past five years, Miami Valley Meals has made over one million meals, and partnered with over 120 entities which distribute their meals to people in need.
'Just in the neighborhood here in Edgemont, we had a family with a house fire, and they lost pretty much everything. We were able to supply them with at least 30 to 50 of the meals,' said Shannon Circle, dietician at Five Rivers Health.
As a dietician at a non-profit, Circle has also seen this crisis get worse since the pandemic.
'A lot of our patients screened positive for food insecurity. We can tell within the first ten minutes, usually of an appointment,' said Circle. 'We typically ask them three questions. You know, do you get food stamps? Do you visit local food pantries? And do you feel like you can't afford enough food to feed your family for the next month?'
But food insecurity isn't just about having enough to eat — its about access to nutritious meals, and with rising grocery prices, this adds another challenge.
But Miami Valley Meals is working to close the gap.
'The meals all have three components to them, they have an entrée and then they have a vegetable side. And then some kind of fruits on the side as well,' said Circle. 'I feel good about the portion sizes that we're serving. And they are not preserved in sodium, like some of the meals that you might get at the store.'
Miami Valley Meals says fighting food insecurity is far from over. It's going to take everyone — individuals and local leaders — working together to make a real impact.
To learn more about how you can help, click here.
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