May 3, 2010

Second Harvest Provides Food Through a Mobile Pantry

Author: Erin Gray

On Friday April 2nd Second Harvest Food Bank set up a mobile pantry at a Tuskawilla United Methodist Church in the Casselberry area.

Earlier we had received a call from church representatives expressing the need for food in the area. Right across the street from the church is a school that has over 200 students receiving free/reduced lunches. Even though the church was not a partner agency, Second Harvest agreed to bring a truck with some staff members to volunteer their time.

The truck had 8 pallets of canned and dry food, two pallets of fruit and veggies, and 1 pallet of bread products. The pallets were arranged in the parking lot were the church members had set up a drive thru scenario. One person would sign in the people requesting food, and then the client would drive up to receive their order.

It was wonderful to see all the church volunteers that showed up to serve over 120 families in a three hour period.  Tuskawilla United Methodist ended up filling out an agency application and was recently accepted. We are very happy that they will be helping to alleviate hunger in their area on a weekly basis.

Photos from the day:

Erin Gray
Agency Relations Manager

December 15, 2009

Kids Cafe: Designed for Kids, Strengthening Families

Author: Brady Koch

The following story is based on a telephone interview with Cassandra Williams at the Pine Hills Community Church, the site of one of our Kids Cafes.

A child was walking from school toward the Pine Hills Church Kids Café, when another youngster approached him.

 

 “Where you going”, asked the child.

“To the church”, replied the other.

“What’s there?”

 “Food!”

 “Really!”

 “Yeah”

“Can I go too?”

“Sure, they don’t mind”

Once at the church, the children were served an after school meal and then participated in the many activities the community center has to offer.

The new child returned home that afternoon and told his mother all about the Kids Café. The next day, both the mom and the child showed up.

The mom was told she would not be able to receive a prepared meal since Kids Cafes are for kids only, but since she was already there and had expressed need, she would be provided with groceries from their food pantry which is stocked with products from Second Harvest Food Bank.

As time went by, the mom began to accompany her son to the church every afternoon. The child would get his usual meal and mom would sit by his side, having brought her own meal prepared from the pantry products she had received.  Afterwards, they would linger over homework, reading improvement activities and much more.

The site supervisor tells us that the Kids Café acted as a magnet, bringing mother and child closer together. “This same story has played out on several occasions”, she commented.

 “The parents are learning from their children, and as a consequence the family grows stronger.”

 

Santos Maldonado
Childhood Hunger Programs Manager

December 14, 2009

Partner Agencies Working Together to Save Thanksgiving

Author: Erin Gray

At Second Harvest we have over 600 partner agencies who together help to fight and end hunger.  One of our partner agencies in Orange County is Mt. Sinai Seventh-Day Adventist Church.  Their food pantry is open every Wednesday from 1 p.m. -6 p.m. to help feed individuals and families in need. They are one of our larger agencies, and they serve over 1000 individuals each month from their pantry.  We talked to Amy Walker from Mt. Sinai Seventh Day Adventist church for a success story, and she shared their Thanksgiving experience with us.

This year for Thanksgiving, the volunteers at the church were able to feed 2,501 of: Orlando’s low income residents, disabled, and the senior citizen, and homeless population in the Parramore district with a unique mobile outreach concept. Reaching out this way is particularly effective for those who have difficulty making it to a food pantry.

“Most of the people we were able to feed were because we knocked on their door. Some of the people we saw were amputees or blind and the rest was mostly senior citizens. The majority of them were in no condition to come out of their homes and stand in line especially in the rain. We had to go to them!” says Pastor Herman L. Davis.

Pastor Davis and his team spent two years redesigning their Thanksgiving distribution to feed many more people. Unlike past years the church had access to two large mobile units that can fully prepare and cook upward of 10,000 hot meals at any location it’s driven too. This allowed the volunteers to go to the people that needed their care the most, rather than have individuals to find them.

After an entire day of cooking prep, the Mt. Sinai Community Outreach Volunteer team was ready for their first stop. At 1 p.m. on Thanksgiving Eve served a menu of collard greens, mixed greens, curried egg plants, turkey breast, rice and gravy, baked whole turkey and mash potatoes, which some of the food for the meals were received from Second Harvest.  And they served 900 hot meals while people waited in light rain.   Later that day the team was joined by Loving Hut restaurant who had witnessed what the volunteers were accomplishing and wanted to join in and help. Loving Hut  prepared an additional 200 vegetarian meals consisting of egg rolls, rice, and vegetables.

On Thanksgiving Day a three man team; Pastor Davis, Ken Unick, and Dave Worrell distributed another 700 hot meals donated by the Salvation Army to the Maxwell Terrace community which are both partner agencies of Second Harvest Food Bank. A third wave of volunteers went out again on the Sunday immediately following Thanksgiving Day and fed an additional 501 people. While this initiative had been planned well in advance the outcome is still unbelievable.

The volunteers have returned to their bi-weekly Wednesday food distributions from 1 p.m.-5 p.m. where they package a week’s worth of groceries for the public at the church located at 2600 Orange Center Blvd. Orlando, FL 32805. “Mt. Sinai is full of compassionate people who are dedicated to touching the individual lives of the community, these volunteers are a blessing and serious about the impact of our outreach,” says member Timotheie Aurelien.

Erin Gray
Agency Relations Manager

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