Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida and Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) helped ease the burden of hunger for families this holiday season with their annual food distribution event. The 13th annual holiday food distribution event provided 3,400 families with enough food to provide 156,526 meals over the upcoming winter break. Volunteers spread out around bus loops … [Read more...] about The Season of Sharing
food drop
Mobile Drops are on a Mission
The mobile food drop program has ramped up in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Food drops are scheduled two to three times a day in local “food desert” areas across all six Central Florida Counties. Second Harvest and its network of feeding partners have adapted mobile drops to have minimal contact to ensure the safety of volunteers and food recipients. Since mid-March, 108 … [Read more...] about Mobile Drops are on a Mission
Cardboard Boxes of Hope
When the phone rings at Come As You Are Food Pantry in Leesburg, the voices on the other end are always different, but they have one thing in common: they need help. “They tell me they have no work, no money, no way to pay the rent,” explains Roy Curet, food pantry organizer and pastor at a local church. “We try to help everyone, connecting them to different resources, like … [Read more...] about Cardboard Boxes of Hope
“Come on down.”
While many church buildings sit empty, their parking lots are bustling as they are now one of the most critical places in the community. Here, hope is offered one cardboard box at a time, as many as six days a week. “One lady said if it wasn’t for us, she did not know what she would do,” said Jewel Simmons, a volunteer at the Apostolic Church of Jesus in … [Read more...] about “Come on down.”