Archive for November, 2009

November 30, 2009

Central Florida Food Stamp Increases at Record Levels

Author: Dave Krepcho

Based on a report released by the NYT on 11/29/09, a dramatic increase in Food Stamps is occurring due to the troubled economy.

Many of the new people receiving aid are folks who never dreamed of needing help six to 10 months ago. Cut back hours, job losses and meager job prospects are the driving forces behind these numbers.

Here’s how Central Florida rates:              

Orange      Osceola      Seminole      Lake      Volusia      Brevard
+71%            +74%           +65%         +87%       +75%         +76%

Change since 2007 / percentage increase in usage

These are some of the highest increases in the entire country.

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

November 20, 2009

The Monday After Scouting For Food, Our Busiest Day of the Year

Author: Erin Gray

Scouting for Food was this past Saturday November 14th and with the help of Boy Scouts, volunteers, and Second Harvest staff, we were able to collect over 180,000 pounds of food at our Brengle Warehouse in Orlando. Second Harvest Food Bank receives a portion of what Scouting for Food collects in Central Florida. We are grateful to be part of this wonderful event.

The Boy Scouts would bring truck loads of bags they had gathered from the houses in different neighborhoods to our collection sites. Then the sites boxed up the donations for distribution the following Monday.

Photos taken from one of our collection sites:

Photos taken by: Occasional Photo

After the food was collected and boxed up it was sent to our warehouse on Brengle Avenue in Orlando so that our Partner Agencies that have Emergency Food Pantries in the Orange and Seminole Counties could receive the food and distribute to their clients. The following Monday always looks like a caravan all lined up at our docks ready to go fight hunger in their neighborhood.

On Monday, November 16th the food was ready for pick by the agencies.  On a typical day we service about 25 agencies. This past Monday, our warehouse went into overdrive to serve over 164 agencies. We had as many as five agencies every 15 minutes.  Each agency vehicle’s shock absorbers got a workout as vans, trucks, and a couple compact cars were loaded up.

We were also very lucky that we had received a very large shipment of Sweet Potatoes so quite a few of the partner agencies received about a pallet or so to distribute along with the food drive. 

The Thanksgiving holiday is approaching and with food received from the Scouting for Food our Partner agencies will be able to distribute and help more families this season.

Erin Gray
Agency Relations Manager
egray@foodbankcentralflorida.org

November 13, 2009

Empty Bowls Luncheon 2009 Photos

Author: Sasha Hausman

Second Harvest Food Bank’s 20th Annual Empty Bowls Symbolic Soup Kitchen Luncheon was a success! Thanks to all our sponsors, guests, and volunteers we were able to raise almost $22,000 for our neighbors in need!

The bowls looked amazing. A huge thanks to Stella Tagliavore and students of Central Florida, because of you we are proud to continue this tradition.  The art students really took it to another level this year.

 Thanks to everyone who came out on Tuesday, hopefully we will see everyone next year for our 21st Annual Empty Bowls Luncheon!

Empty Bowls Soup Kitchen Luncheon was presented by: General Mills

Lunch Sponsor: Embassy Suites Orlando Downtown
Event Emcee: Ken Payne, Magic 107.7 FM
Entertainers: Matt “the Saxman” Festa and Michelle Mailhot
Patron Sponsors: Community of Christ Church, Randy Schimmelpfenning, Mrs. Ramona Spears, and Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed, P.A.

Photos:

November 12, 2009

Unexpected Outreach

Author: Brady Koch

This past Saturday our Benefits Connection food stamp outreach team participated in an large scale workshop and information session for homeowners facing foreclosure.

 Hundreds of people attended the event organized by the state of Florida and many of them were able to find assistance with our team.

Many people are surprised with the face of hunger in our community. Many of the families and individuals we help are employed, yet unable to make ends meet. Layoffs, cutbacks, and medical emergencies are making it more and more challenging for people to provide food to their family.

Because of these economic challenges, our Benefits Connections team has been asked to participate in more and more unexpected outreach events. This month alone we’ll be providing outreach at large businesses, libraries, resource fairs, and schools. This is above and beyond the community centers, church pantries, and nonprofits that we normally provide help to.

If you’re interested in learning more about our Benefits Connection program (or are interested in one of those awesome Second Harvest toast shirts our team is modeling) please contact me.

For more information about where our Benefits Connection Team will be at during the rest of the month, please call our main number 407-423-7333.

Brady Koch
Director of Agency Relations & Programs
bkoch@foodbankcentralflorida.org

November 11, 2009

Partner Profile: The Sharing Center

Author: Erin Gray

At Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida we have more than 500 partner agencies and we serve 6 counties. As the Agency Relations Manager I am very fortunate that I get to work with and get to know our partner agencies that are located throughout Central Florida who help to end hunger.  One of those partner agencies that I work with and would like to spotlight is the Sharing Center.   

The Sharing Center is one of our partner feeding programs located in Seminole County. Their main distribution site is in Longwood, Florida. Their 40×60 sq ft pantry is able to provide over 2,000 bags of food a month to over 600 families.

The Sharing Center states that they have seen an increase in families that are coming to receive food from them this year compared to previous years. 

Michael Kenyon, the Director of Volunteer and Pantry Services at the Sharing Center, says “We shop every week in order receive nutritious and substantial food for our clients. Second Harvest is great benefit to us and our clients”. 

The Sharing Center is open Monday – Friday from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. to help people in need.  If you want to volunteer or find out more information on the Sharing Center, please check out their Web site.

Erin Gray
Agency Relations Manager