The Greater Cleveland Food Bank is the largest hunger-relief organization in northeast Ohio and the second-largest food bank in the state. It covers six counties, Cuyahoga, Lake, Geauga, Ashtabula, Ashland, and Richland, and in fiscal year 2024 it served a record 424,000 people while distributing more than 54 million pounds of food. Kristin Warzocha has led it as President and CEO since 2015, after joining the organization in 2000. It holds a four-star Charity Navigator rating with a top score.
The Greater Cleveland Food Bank sources food at scale and distributes it through a network of partner agencies across six counties, alongside its own distributions and a Community Resource Center that pairs food with help applying for benefits and other support. The resource-center model reflects the wider shift in food banking toward addressing why people are hungry, not only handing out groceries.
Kristin Warzocha became President and CEO in 2015, having joined the Food Bank in 2000 and risen through its ranks. She has guided the organization through record demand and the opening of new facilities, and she has become a visible regional and national voice on hunger. Under her the Food Bank holds a four-star Charity Navigator rating with a perfect score.
The six-county service area centers on Cuyahoga County and Cleveland and reaches into Lake, Geauga, Ashtabula, Ashland, and Richland counties. Northeast Ohio’s post-industrial economy left lasting pockets of poverty, and need rose sharply in recent years: fiscal year 2024 set a record at 424,000 people served, and demand continued climbing afterward.
Yes. The Greater Cleveland Food Bank is a 501(c)(3) and a Feeding America member with a four-star Charity Navigator rating and a perfect 100 percent score. Bulk buying and donated food mean a gift produces many meals.
Donations and volunteer shifts run through greaterclevelandfoodbank.org. Volunteers sort and pack food and help at distributions, and cash gifts go furthest because of the Food Bank’s purchasing power.
The Greater Cleveland Food Bank is the largest in northeast Ohio and second-largest in the state, behind the Columbus-based Mid-Ohio Food Collective. Freestore Foodbank covers the Cincinnati region in the southwest. For anyone in the Cleveland area or northeast Ohio, this is the lead organization.
Agencies across six northeast Ohio counties receive food.
Pairs food with benefits-application and other help.
School and weekend food support for kids at risk of hunger.
Food assistance for older adults on fixed incomes.
Sources: Greater Cleveland Food Bank website (greaterclevelandfoodbank.org), Charity Navigator (EIN 34-1292848), and Cleveland-area reporting on record demand and the new headquarters. We are not affiliated with Greater Cleveland Food Bank and receive no compensation for this listing. Spotted an error? [email protected]
More Ohio and food-bank resources