“I don’t know what I’d do without it.”
It’s a common refrain among those who receive food assistance in Central Florida throughout the year, but especially around the holidays.
Dozens of cars show up hours early for St. Vincent De Paul Divine Mercy Food Pantry’s biweekly drive-through food distribution, but November’s had more people waiting than usual.
More than a hundred cars pulled through the line that wrapped around the Merritt Island church, while friendly and compassionate volunteers filled up trunks and backseats with prepacked boxes of produce and nonperishable items, bags of meat, eggs, and a special item that day – a cake or a pie.
“They give you a variety of stuff. It’s like fruits and vegetables, then you’ll get some meat,” a neighbor named Kathy said. “It’s definitely staples that actually come in very handy. I really, really don’t know what we would do without it.”
“I just retired last year and this has made a big difference on my grocery bill,” said Deena, another neighbor. “It makes me be able to cook meat with every meal without having to take money away from my bill money. If I didn’t have it, I don’t know how I would make it.”
The pantry, which serves around 750 neighbors each month is run by Tom and Lonny Bowler, who are college sweethearts married for 52 years. After retiring to Merritt Island from Connecticut, the Bowlers took on the challenge of addressing the growing need for food assistance in their community.
In the seven years they’ve been in Florida, they said they’ve seen the need for food resources grow “immensely.”
“We have many that will say ‘If I can get the food from you, then I don’t have to pay for as much food then maybe I can pay the electric bill, maybe I can pay the water bill, maybe I can put it towards the rent,'” Lonny said. “It’s that close for them.”
Tom puts in a lot of hours and effort into making the distributions the efficient and well-organized events that they are. But to him, they are a labor of love.
“It doesn’t ever seem like work because in the back of your mind, you’re doing it for someone who might be a little less fortunate than we have been in our lives,” he said. “It’s really meaningful to us.”
St. Vincent De Paul of Divine Mercy is a feeding partner of Second Harvest, and the Bowlers and other pantry leaders visit the food bank’s Brevard County branch about every 45 days to pick up food.
Lonny said the partnership has also enabled the pantry to offer healthier items to neighbors by making things like fresh produce much more affordable to distribute.
“They’ve made everything possible,” she said. “We’re so grateful for Second Harvest.”
With the help of WESH 2, St. Vincent De Paul of Divine Mercy’s story was shared with Central Florida, among other stories of hope during the station’s 39th annual Share Your Christmas fundraiser that supports neighbors facing hunger through Second Harvest.
Your support makes it possible for food pantries like St. Vincent De Paul of Divine Mercy to provide essential groceries, heartfelt connections, and hope to your neighbors facing hunger.
