GIRARD, Ohio - Food is a big part of Thanksgiving. But for many valley seniors just having enough food each day can be a struggle.

The Senior Box program from Second Harvest Food Bank is one way you can help ease the problem of senior hunger.

At the Emmanuel Community Care Center, it was distribution day for the senior box program. Poverty and hunger hit the elderly disproportionately hard.

Twenty percent of the food banks clients are seniors, and most are on fixed incomes. "Most of them on 750 dollars or less, so getting this box of food once a month takes that burden off of them," Becky Miller of Second Harvest said.

The food bank says the senior food box program takes away some of the stress of having to decide between food, utilities, and medication.  Denise O'Malley says she knows friends who try to save by cutting pills in half, but she has cancer.

"I can't do that, I have to take my pills. Cancer medications are very expensive, and there's never enough money. What it does for me is it gives me that extra that I probably wouldn't have, it's a real blessing," said O'Malley. 

The senior box program supplements the senior's groceries with healthy foods. "This is a great program to help them have extra nutrition," said Sister Jean Orsuto of Emmanuel Community Care Center.

Denise says without the box program she would have to cut back to afford food.  "But it's pretty hard to cut back when you're already cut back," she said.

"We're serving 700 seniors across the valley and I'm not sure where they would end up without this program," Miller said.