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

December 21, 2009

Working Together to Save Winter Break

Author: Brady Koch

This past Saturday we partnered with Orange County Public Schools and the Winter Park Health Foundation to provide food to families this holiday season. The two week break from school can be especially difficult to children who rely on the free and reduced school lunch program. With this in mind, we gathered a team of volunteers, 22,000 lbs of food and marketed the weekend food distribution to children participating in our Hi-Five program at eight of the schools located near our two distribution sites.

 When I arrived at Cheney Elementary on Saturday, there were already some families there over an hour and a half earlier than our scheduled starting time. We had 10 palettes of potatoes, oranges, bread , pastries, and pantry boxes filled with 14 common items like peanut butter and tuna. As the morning went on, we ended up distributing food to 450 families at Cheney and Hungerford Elementary.

A couple of the stories stood out to me that demonstrated how our community comes together in times of need. Two mothers whose families received food that morning returned to our site to volunteer the rest of the day. Another mother, who had no transportation, walked for two hours to get to our site. She was willing to physically carry all of the food back home. Thankfully, another volunteer loaded up her groceries and drove her home.

A father and son rode to our site on bicycles and a pair of volunteers tried their best to safely load the bicycles with any food that they could carry. When another recipient family saw this they offered to take the father and son, bicycles, and food back home.

While we know it isn’t enough food for two entire weeks in meals it was enough to make an immediate difference in these families’ lives. It was a great way to come together as a community and fight hunger in Central Florida.

Brady Koch
Director of Agency Relations & Programs

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

September 3, 2009

Taste of the Nation – Orlando Photos

Author: Maria Diestro

Taste of the Nation Orlando celebrated its 20 year anniversary last Saturday at the Orange County Convention Center. It was incredible! 2,000 people came out to the Valencia Ballroom to taste Orlando’s finest cuisine.

Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation® is the nation’s premier culinary benefit dedicated to making sure no kid in America grows up hungry. We are proud and honored to be one of the beneficiaries of this amazing event.

Over 30 of Central Florida’s leading restaurants came out in full force. Not only did everything taste great, but it looked beautiful too. There was live music by local band Crash Reality, a silent auction, and even a chance to make your own music video! I know I had a great time, and I think it’s pretty safe to say that no one left that night without a full stomach and a smile on their face!

Over $145,000 was raised through ticket sales, raffles and the silent auction, which will go towards fighting childhood hunger. Proceeds locally benefit Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida and Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida; state wide beneficiaries include Florida Impact and the North Florida Educational Development Corporation. 

Thank you to everyone who came out to the event. We are already thinking about next year when Taste of the Nation Orlando turns 21! Enjoy the pictures.

 

Taste of the Nation Review:
Taste of the Nation a big, tasty success from Scott Joseph’s Orlando Restaurant Guide