{"id":208865,"date":"2026-08-14T20:12:06","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T01:12:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=208865"},"modified":"2026-08-14T20:12:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T01:12:07","slug":"fop-donates-to-hospital-food-pantry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/08\/14\/fop-donates-to-hospital-food-pantry\/","title":{"rendered":"FOP donates to hospital food pantry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>VW independent staff\/submitted information<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A donation from the Van Wert Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 62 will help sustain OhioHealth Van Wert Hospital\u2019s efforts to provide food and other essentials to patients and families in need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The hospital\u2019s food pantry provides short-term assistance to patients experiencing food insecurity. Hospital staff can connect patients with \u201cPaula\u2019s Pantry\u201d when a need is identified, providing them with food to help meet immediate needs and information about additional resources available in the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re fortunate to be part of a community that has always supported us as police officers and retired police officers, and we want to be able to give that support back,\u201d FOP Lodge 62 President Bruce Showalter said. \u201cWe just try to do what we think is right for the community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The $500 donation is part of the FOP Lodge 62\u2019s ongoing commitment to supporting local organizations and community initiatives. The FOP also made donations to three other local pantries.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"550\" height=\"484\" src=\"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Check-Presentation.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-208866\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">April Ellerbrock of FOP Lodge 62 (left) presents a $500 check to OhioHealth Van Wert Hospital President Paula Stabler. <em>Photos submitted<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Paula\u2019s Pantry includes a variety of shelf-stable foods that can be used to create simple meals, as well as essential items such as personal hygiene products and infant supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe know that food insecurity can create additional challenges for patients and families,\u201d OhioHealth Van Wert Hospital President Paula Stabler said.&nbsp; \u201cSupport from community partners like FOP Lodge 62 helps us meet people where they are and provide resources that can make a meaningful difference during a difficult time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The food pantry is intended for current Van Wert Hospital patients, their families and associates who need assistance. Community members seeking food assistance are encouraged to access other local<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>resources, including the United Way of Van Wert County, Carla\u2019s Cupboard and other community pantries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe hospital serves the residents of Van Wert County, and it\u2019s important to us to support that,\u201d Showalter said. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to be a community where services are difficult to come by. We hope to continue supporting these efforts in the future whenever we have the opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"550\" height=\"359\" src=\"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Pantry-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-208867\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Paula&#8217;s Pantry at OhioHealth Van Wert Hospital.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>VW independent staff\/submitted information A donation from the Van Wert Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 62 will help sustain OhioHealth Van Wert Hospital\u2019s efforts to provide food and other essentials to patients and families in need. The hospital\u2019s food pantry provides short-term assistance to patients experiencing food insecurity. Hospital staff can connect patients with \u201cPaula\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-208865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-22 02:56:17","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208865"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208865\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":208868,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208865\/revisions\/208868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}