Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida distributes food to people facing hunger through a robust network of 750 partners. These powerful partnerships ensure food is available in seven counties for neighbors experiencing job loss, expensive medical emergencies and impacts from natural disasters.
When Lake Cares Food Pantry in Mount Dora lost power at its main distribution center and warehouse during Hurricane Milton, Second Harvest was able to help restock the pantry in time for its next distribution day.
Knowing community members would need assistance the Saturday following Hurricane Milton, not opening was not an option.
“It was an all-hands-on-deck operation,” said Ahkeem Desinor, Lake Cares logistics manager and driver. After the storm passed, staff returned to the pantry on Friday to clean up and resume operations.
Second Harvest was there with a truck filled with 16 pallets of produce, water, MREs and prepared meals from Walt Disney World Resort.
“If it weren’t for Second Harvest, there’s a lot we could not have done. The partnership and relationship is extremely valuable,” said Kevin Stanaland, the building manager. “We were able to meet our neighbors’ needs quicker and for an extended period.”
Assistant Pantry Manager John Freeburg said at the Saturday distribution, it was a higher amount of people coming at more random intervals and showing up later in the day than usual because of uncertainty about the pantry being open and because there were issues navigating some roads. But staff stayed late until around 3 p.m. to accommodate everyone they could.
“I think there was a large sense of relief (among pantry neighbors,)” Ahkeem said. “Many people felt like there was an issue or a problem that they didn’t necessarily consider before the storm, and there’s a certain fear of ‘how do I handle this?’ And to know that they can loop around the building and see pallets of food out front and know that they would receive something that day and not leave empty-handed as they came – that’s pretty major.”
“Since the hurricane, we have seen a huge increase in people coming for emergency food because people are still just getting their power back,” John said. “This past Thursday (Oct. 17), we had a lot of people showing up needing stuff to put in the fridge.”
Some families find the added expense of replacing food that has spoiled due to the extended power outages too much, so they’re turning to the pantries for emergency food supplies.
“That’s been a pretty common message, ‘We lost everything in our fridge. We don’t have any food. We don’t have any way to purchase it. Do you have anything we can receive?’” he added.
That has resulted in a lot of first-time walk-in neighbors, John said.
“These guys (Lake Cares staff) did a great job coming in,” he said. “They had damage to their own houses and they put everything aside.”
Volunteer Coordinator Patty Pabon was on the phone for hours to make sure there were enough volunteers to staff the Saturday shift. Because of the hurricane, she was down to about three volunteers who could make it in at first.
“I just came in and started calling people, and they all just kept saying, ‘I’ll be there. I’ll be there,’” she said. “We had a full house – a good 15.”
Patty said some of the volunteers put their own storm cleanup to the side to come to help.
“It made me feel great,” she said. “The volunteers here are faithful and dedicated. Whenever we’re in a pinch, they come, show up and work hard. They were eager to come in and help because of the situation.”
Kevin said the neighbors and the volunteers have a strong sense of loyalty to Lake Cares, as well as a strong sense of community.
“Mt. Dora is still in a lot of ways a small town even though it’s growing,” he said. “And a lot of people have a strong community spirit.”
It takes everyone coming together to fight hunger in the wake of a disaster. Because of food donors, financial supporters, volunteers and caring people like you, Second Harvest is able to provide essential food resources to the hardest-hit areas for weeks and months after devastating storms like Hurricane Milton. Thank you for sharing food and hope with Central Florida neighbors.
