March 10, 2010

Are you Ready to Stamp Out Hunger?

Author: Maria Diestro

The National Association of Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive is right around the corner. With your help, Orlando Letter Carriers will help Stamp Out Hunger on Saturday, May 8.

Now in its 18th year, the Stamp Out Hunger! effort is the nation’s largest single-day food drive. Last year, Letter Carriers collected 376,514 pounds of food in Central Florida. Nationally, 73.4 million pounds of food was collected.

What Can You Do To Help?
1. Place bags filled with nonperishable food items next to your mailbox.*
2. Your letter carrier will pick them up and deliver them to Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida.

* Donate items like canned meats and fish, canned soup, juice, pasta, vegetables, cereal and rice. Please do not include items that have expired or those in glass containers.

Sign up here to receive a reminder email!

Below are photos and videos from last year:

 

Maria Diestro
Online Services and Communications Manager

March 9, 2010

Safe Food Handling

Author: Brady Koch

Nothing is more important at Second Harvest than ensuring that the food we provide is safe for consumption.  There are numerous ways that food can become unsafe throughout its life including improper storage, handling of food and contamination.

In an effort to combat these risk factors, each of our Partner Agencies is required to attend a Safe Staff Food Handler Certification Program. This training is developed by the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association and is the same training that is required by Florida law for public food service workers to complete.

The training is administered by a Florida Certified Professional Food Manager, who is also a staff member. The contents of the training address such topics as cleaning and sanitizing, controlling pests, food borne illnesses and the importance of personal hygiene.

The certification is valid for three years at which time the course must be repeated. By providing our Partner Agencies with basic food safety training we hope to provide them with as many preventative techniques as possible to minimize food safety risks and ensure the health and safety of the clientele receiving our food.

February 24, 2010

Produce to the People

Author: Erin Gray

On January 30th, Second Harvest Food Bank and New Covenant Church participated in our Produce to the People Program. Through this partnership with New Covenant Church, we were able to provide more food to individuals in Orange County on this day. Since the church is located in a part of East Orange County where there are few food pantries, the food distributed was made available to many that normally would not receive it.

This was our sixth Produce to the People mobile drop that we have enlisted our partner agencies to be a part of. With this program, Second Harvest Food Bank drops off ten pallets of fruits, vegetables and bakery items at a mobile location. These items usually have a short shelve life span or are perishable. 

The majority of the produce we received was from the gleaning that the Society of St. Andrews volunteers collected. New Covenant Church received two pallets of potatoes and three pallets of oranges that were recently gleaned from farms. The remaining pallets for the agency’s distribution were two pallets of bottled juice and four pallets of assorted bread and bakery products.  

700+ families showed up at New Covenant for the normal Saturday distribution only to find that there were an additional 11 pallets of fresh items waiting for them to take home. Both New Covenant Church and its clients were extremely happy to be receiving this additional food.

Because of our Partnership with our Partner Agencies, donors and people like Society of St. Andrews, we were able be a part of the Fight to End Hunger.

Slideshow:

Erin Gray
Agency Relations Manager

February 24, 2010

The Haunting Calls Keep Coming

Author: Dave Krepcho

At Second Harvest, we’ve seen a large increase in the number of calls from individuals requiring food. In addition to the 21 million pounds of food we distribute during a year, we receive an average of 20 calls per day from people seeking assistance.

Not only is it sad that these folks are hungry and cannot afford food, but it is distressing once you find out who they are. Many are grandmothers watching their grand kids or great grand kids, some are single mothers working full time and still cannot make ends meet and then there are the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans that are foreclosing on their homes and cannot afford to eat.

These calls haunt the folks at Second Harvest who answer the phones. Fortunately, there is somewhat of a hopeful side to this blog, we are able to refer these folks to one of our many partner programs so they can be helped.

If you ever wondered if your involvement in the cause mattered, wonder no more. Thank you for your support.

Dave Krepcho
President & CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida

February 22, 2010

Helping the Homeless

Author: Brady Koch

Two weeks ago our Benefits Connection team participated in Project Homeless Connect at Discovery Church. Homeless Services Network of Central Florida organizes local nonprofits for these events so that the Homeless can receive a variety of services at one convenient stop. In addition to our food stamp outreach, guests were able to receive clothing, blankets, haircuts and more.

Our tables were busy for the entire day. I’m sure the cold and the rain helped encourage people to come inside for a few hours to learn about the public benefits they may qualify for. After seeing the impact this event has for the clients first hand, we will definitely continue to participate in Project Homeless Connect.

Brady Koch
Director of Agency Relations and Programs