Spending Going Up for the Yuletide Hunger Program

More families needed extra help around the holidays from the last year, and the city expects that trend to continue.

City Council approved $17,500 in spending for the 2012 program at their , an increase of $2,500. The program is run on donations, but the city has to approve the expenses in advance.

The program helps provide food for families in need in Brecksville, Broadview Heights, Seven Hills and Independence during the winter holidays. More than 140 families signed up for the program last year—there were about a dozen more families in 2011 than in 2010, Director of Ted Lux said in an email.

The department expects that number to increase again this year, unless the economy turns around, Lux said. Food donations have also declined in recent years, but monetary donations, especially from the schools, have gone up. The program uses the money to buy basics to supplement the donations.

Lux said the program always needs basics like tuna, peanut butter, jelly, spaghetti and sauce.