All day food giveaway ends in an hour

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - A startling snapshot of hunger in our community Thursday.

A free food giveaway designed to last all day ended in just an hour.

The Feed the Children trailer rolled into Welcome Stadium and was instantly surrounded.

The parking lot was so full, volunteers had to start passing out supplies an hour earlier than scheduled.

"Anything can help you know, anything for the kids. They're helping us out and we really do appreciate it," said Adrienne Foster, mother of four.

The boxes were made possible by Feed the Children, a non-profit organization that's teamed up with Kentucky Speedway and Community Action Partnership to distribute the items to our community.

The event was supposed to start at 10:00 a.m., but organizers say when the truck pulled in at 8:00 a.m., people were already waiting.

"It says we have a great need in our community and it continues to grow, but we are here," said John Bennett, Community Action Partnership.

In the end, 400 families received boxes, but many more were turned away.

"What it showed me was the need in this community is significant and we need to come back here. I was amazed by the quantity of people who showed up here today. It broke my heart," said Mark Stout, Asst. Director of Client Services, Kentucky Speedway.

S.T. Reddrick left without food or answers. "What do you do next? You go back home for food? That's a good question. What do you do for food?"

Organizers say it's because of stories like that, that the Feed the Children bus will come back to Dayton in the future.

As for Mr. Reddrick, you'll be happy to hear he did not go home without food.

2 News went along with him to the FoodBank food pantry in Dayton.