Photo provided THANKS TO donations from the community, the city of Martins Ferry and Jacob & Sons Meats have teamed up to provide meat vouchers to residents in need.

MARTINS FERRY — A local business has teamed up with the city of Martins Ferry to help city residents get through the coronavirus pandemic with full bellies.

Mayor John Davies said after receiving monetary donations for the city’s free food giveaway program, the city decided to team up with Jacob & Sons Meats of Martins Ferry to provide vouchers to give packages of hot dogs and hamburgers to those in need. Grace Church has helped manage the monetary donations.

To receive a voucher, he said, residents must provide an identification and phone number.

“Each family will be entitled to one voucher per week. Plus bags of food will continue to be placed outside the city building please call the Mayor’s office (740-633-2876) with your information and let us know when you are coming,” Davies wrote in a recent social media post, asking everyone to “stay safe.”

Davies on Friday said there are still some vouchers left for those in need. He noted the first round of vouchers give families with children preference because officials want to make sure the youth are getting fed.

“Children who go to Martins Ferry schools can get them, too,” Davies said.

Davies said once a person receives the voucher they can take it to Jacob & Sons, which is located at 306 Center St. in the Purple City.

Davies said he has been impressed by people’s generosity in donating food and money to help others during the pandemic. He believes the efforts are working.

“The people in Martins Ferry are great. We had a donation from a lady in Florida, Patricia Denver, who is from Martins Ferry. There are a lot of people who left Martins Ferry who have sent money. This is their hometown.”

Davies said recently he posted a message on Facebook letting people know that free donated food coffers were getting low. He asked for donations.

“The next day I had so much food it filled up my office again,” Davies noted.

He added it made sense to partner with Jacob & Sons because the city does not have the ability to refrigerate meat for the giveaways.

All the food that has been distributed by the city has been donated by community members.