About Us

The Tri-Village Packers is a partnership currently spearheaded by the Tri-Village Lions Club, the Kiwanis Club of Northwest Columbus, the Tri-Village Rotary Club, the Upper Arlington Rotary Club, the Upper Arlington Community Foundation, the City of Upper Arlington, Upper Arlington Schools, Upper Arlington Parks and Rec, the City of Grandview Heights and Grandview Heights Schools, Grandview Heights Parks and Rec, the Village of Marble Cliff, Wright Patt Credit Union, UNITS, Highlights Magazine, the Optimists Club, the UAHS Key Club and Interact Club, the AKtion Club, Saint Mark's Episcopal Church, St. Christopher Church, Tri-Village Sertoma Club, Three Creeks Capital Management -- with more joining in all the time. If your service group would like to join our efforts,
send an email to: trivillagepackers@gmail.com 

  In the Fall of 2023, and unprecedented collaboration of individuals and organizations in Tri-Village Community came together to provide food for those who are hungry in our community. Our inaugural project involved providing food for almost 100 children in the Tri-Village area during the 5-day Thanksgiving break.  Building on the success of that initial effort, we provided food to 100+ youngsters during their Spring Break, and again for Thanksgiving, 2024.

Recognizing that some of these children may come to school hungry, as well, we have begun to provide “grab-and-go” tubs of food to the Grandview and Upper Arlington Schools, to be shared out, as needed. None of this would be possible without the commitment and support of folks from throughout the Tri-Village Community. "It's amazing how much good can get done when you don't care who gets the credit!" (our unofficial motto!) 

 We recognize that even within the thriving Tri-Village community, there are families struggling with food insecurity.  Our goal is to do what we can, when we can, to support our neighbors in a very tangible and immediate way.

There are a few hundred children who are food insecure in our schools (Grandview Heights and Upper Arlington). There are more than 30,000 children in the Columbus Public Schools who are food insecure, with surrounding communities (Pickerington, Groveport Madison, Whitehall, Canal Winchester) each having more than 10,000 students in need. If you were a governmental agency or an organization focused on making a difference in the fight against childhood hunger, where would you direct your resources? That doesn’t mean the children in Tri-Village are less hungry – it only means that they are invisible to the decision-makers. If WE don’t help, no one else will. 

Members of the Tri-Village community have always been generous with their time and energy, willing to help others in need. But we don’t always think about there being need right here, among our neighbors and friends. This loosely-knit coalition of community partners represents an historic effort BY the community, FOR the community.