Less than 48 hours after Hurricane Ian swept through Central Florida, Second Harvest’s semi-truck pulled into the parking lot at The Rock Church in Kissimmee for its first post-hurricane food distribution. More than 90 cars snaked through the parking lot, waiting for the food they needed to refill their pantries.
The truck delivered 26,103 nourishing meals and renewed hope to 4,269 kids, families and seniors in Osceola County. Volunteers filled each car with nonperishable food, water, fresh produce and ready-to-eat meals.
Hunger was a problem in Central Florida long before Hurricane Ian. Long before the pandemic. Disasters like these exacerbate the issue. Hourly employees miss several days of work resulting in smaller paychecks. Kids miss essential meals when schools are closed. The cost of spoiled food in the refrigerator, water damage to homes and excessive debris all add to stress and uncertainty, especially on an already strained budget.
Since Second Harvest started its disaster response effort on October 1, more than 5,000 people have searched for emergency food distributions on Second Harvest’s Food Finder tool. Disasters are quick to strike and slow to recover. In the days and weeks ahead, the number of people seeking help with food assistance will continue to rise. This is only the beginning.
You can help our neighbors facing hunger due to the impact of Hurricane Ian and so many other challenges facing our community. Your support will provide critical mobile food distributions to the hardest hit areas in Central Florida, home deliveries through Bring Hope Home and fresh, nutritious meals to local emergency shelters.
Ways to help include:
- Financial donations. Your $10 gift will provide 40 meals.
- Volunteer. Volunteers are needed to sort food donations, package meals and build disaster relief boxes.
- Start a virtual food drive. A virtual food drive is one of the fastest ways to rally your friends, family and co-workers to make a collective impact in your neighborhood.
Thank you for being part of the solution.
