The Old North Dayton Neighborhood Association is organizing a new effort to transport residents to nearby grocery stores after a tornado ripped apart the area's only full-service grocery. The neighborhood was among the hardest-hit in the Miami Valley Memorial Day tornado outbreak.
Stacy Meyers works at Evans Bakery in Old North Dayton. The mother of five also lives in the neighborhood and says she鈥檚 been spending $50 to $100 more on food for her family each week since the tornado destroyed the Grocery Lane store.
鈥淣ow I have to shop at the dollar store or the Mexicano store. It鈥檚 a struggle,鈥� Meyers says. 鈥淵ou have to budget your money a lot more because to get food around here is twice the cost. And it鈥檚 bad on your health.鈥�
Meyers doesn鈥檛 own a car. She says that means bumming rides from friends or family, or taking multiple buses to buy affordable, healthy food for her children.
It's unclear whether or when Grocery Lane may rebuild or reopen.
In the meantime, Jennifer Evans, who owns Evans Bakery, says the neighborhood association has started a committee on food scarcity to address the neighborhood's lack of a full-service supermarket.
Organizers are working with Dayton-area food pantries and partnering with Love Monkey Ministries to bring residents on grocery runs.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e got a church that has a couple vans. They鈥檙e getting volunteer drivers. They鈥檒l come in once a week, pick people up, drive them to the grocery. If they need it, [they'll] help them get their groceries,鈥� Evans says.
The committee鈥檚 meetings used to be held at the neighborhood's public library, but crowds grew so large organizers needed to find a new venue.
Its next meeting is expected to be held at the Health Pavilion in Dayton Children鈥檚 Hospital Thursday, Dec. 12, at 1 p.m.
Van service is planned to begin in the new year.
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