There are 600 Central Florida tables that will have Thanksgiving turkeys on them thanks to a joint effort between the food bank and a major national grocer.
Winn-Dixie, Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida and Operation Love Outreach, a local feeding partner, teamed up ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. Their collaborative efforts helped to distribute 600 turkeys and sides for traditional Thanksgiving meals to hundreds of families in Apopka.
The first car arrived in line at 3 a.m. on the morning of the food distribution that started at noon. The man driving, a local resident who relies on the biweekly distribution as his main source of food, said he’s always the first one there. He is just one of the many families in our community in need of food assistance.
Second Harvest estimates that one in eight Central Floridians—and one in six kids—are facing hunger this holiday season. While the food bank is distributing enough food for 300,000 meals a day, the need for food assistance remains elevated. Partnerships like the one with Winn-Dixie are critical for local hunger relief efforts.
Many people waiting in the long line of cars regularly visited the church’s food distributions. Several of them expressed gratitude and excitement when they learned they’d receive Thanksgiving turkeys, along with fresh produce, nonperishable side dish ingredients, and the staple items typically distributed.
One woman crocheted pumpkins to give to the volunteers while she waited in line.
“I don’t know what I would do without this,” she said.
Another said she and her husband survive on what she described as her “low amount” of disability income and his earnings from the one day a week he is able to work.
“Every little bit helps,” she said. “I’m so thankful.”
Two women who rode together to get food inquired about what they could do to give back and said they wanted to come volunteer at the food bank.
“We could definitely do that,” one of them said.
About 30 Winn-Dixie employees and about 20 church volunteers formed assembly lines to pack produce bags with squash, greens, carrots and more. The group also loaded up bags of nonperishable foods, including stuffing mix, canned cranberry sauce, jars of gravy and other Thanksgiving staples.
People in the cars expressed messages of thanks and gratitude, and many were surprised and delighted about the amount of food loaded into their trunks and back seats.
“This is absolutely incredible,” one woman with her 4-year-old granddaughter in the car said. “Happy Thanksgiving to you all.”
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