With an expectation of staying at least two hours, Josh Grube pulls his Subaru into a fairground a little over 30 minutes away from home — still closer than a big grocery store — to wait for a few bags of groceries to help with bills and inflation.
He doesn’t go every week, but with Facing Hunger Foodbank’s social media updates, he is reminded that the community is there to help.
While gas prices rise, and the never-ending anxiety of student loans and monthly bills, Josh is still stressed about one thing he has learned early on as an Appalachian child: pride.
Growing up with a household of seven — four being children — Josh was adopted by his grandparents and lived with his siblings at their aunt’s home. Even though his grandma had many grandchildren to support, she barely asked for help.
“I think it was pride,” Josh said. He said that he knew his school in southern Ohio had food programs for free meals and to-go bags, but they usually never ended up in his backpack.
“I mean, it's kind of tough to sign up for something like that. It really takes at your pride,” he explained.
While it was hard to overcome the fear of feeling ashamed to receive help, he realized that close-knit communities in Appalachia do not judge you based on how you look. He also realized that they won’t judge you on your financial ability — and often won’t even ask.
“When I went, it didn't affect me. Especially seeing the types of vehicles that were there, the type of people — you see people that look pretty well off and have pretty decent vehicles,” Josh said. “That was something I was worried about because I was afraid people would look at me weird, but I saw nice, newer vehicles there as well. And I think now, more than ever, more people go to these events because of the way groceries are going. Everything is just skyrocketing.”
Josh said moving to Crown City enforced him to not rely on fast food — as there aren’t any fast food options for over 40 minutes — but it causes the need for groceries to be more urgent. He said people in a rural desert are just like other people who deserve better options.
The day he moved into his home, neighbors instantly came over to help and introduce themselves.
“It's easy enough to stereotype an area that you've never been to and you don't have experience with the people there. You think everybody there is just this or that. A lot of people around this area are humble and don't flaunt their money. And so there's a lot of people that are well off and are probably educated that you just wouldn't realize because I think people in this area for the most part are pretty humble.”
May 2022