April 18, 2019

2019 East Orange Agency of the Year – Woodbury Presbyterian Church

Author: Agency Relations & Programs Team

Woodbury Presbyterian Church

Congratulations to Woodbury Food Pantry for being awarded the 2019 East Orange Agency of the Year. This Partner Agency is our strongest in East Orange. They are committed to feeding the community around them. Every week this agencies volunteer team starts their day at 5am transforming their sanctuary into a client choice food pantry where in a few short hours, 500 clients receive their weekly groceries. They distributed 360,692lbs of food last year equaling over 300,000 meals to their clients. Their commitment and consistency in distributing food has made a huge impact in the East Orange community.

Thank you Woodbury Presbyterian for all that you do for the community.  

April 11, 2019

Brevard County Agency of the Year..Hummingbird Pantry!

Author: Agency Relations & Programs Team

Congratulations to Hummingbird Pantry for being named 2019 Brevard County Agency of the Year at the Partner Agency Conference. Here is a little information about this amazing agency.

In early 2017 Regina Stafford from Hummingbird Pantry was operating thrift store and small pantry in a 1,000 sq ft storefront in Titusville.  Being that Titusville is considered a food desert based on the accessibility of groceries to those experiencing food insecurity, as a part of her goal to meet the community needs she also became a Second Harvest partner.

In 2018 needing a larger facility, she approached the city of Titusville to help her with a new location, they granted her to take over the kitchen and community rooms of Riverview Elementary as the school is no longer in operation.

Now with a 7,300 sq ft facility and adequate parking lot, Hummingbird began conducting mobile drops to get food to those in need quicker.

Being that Titusville as a good distance from the Melbourne warehouse, Regina championed to be a produce hub for Titusville where they’ll accept direct load of produce and coordinate with the surrounding Titusville pantries to pick it up from her, thus making it much easier to get healthy food to the community.  Faced with the extra expenses and equipment needs to do so, Regina didn’t bat an eye.

Since 2018 Hummingbird has distributed more than 90,000lbs of food, a 500% increase from the previous year.

It is an honor to work in partnership with Hummingbird Pantry. Congratulations on this well deserved honor.

March 28, 2019

2019 Lifetime Achievement Award- Lena Tolliver Family Ties Ministries

Author: Agency Relations & Programs Team

The 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to a women who devoted her entire life serving others.

Lena Tolliver, President and Founder of Family Ties Ministry in Orlando was born on March 31, 1959 in Kokomo Indiana. . She lived for many years in Ohio before relocating to Central Florida.

Within the last few years, she and her husband Robert founded Family Ties, a volunteer food pantry helping feed many hundreds of needy people.

Family Ties became a Partner Agency in January of 2012. For over 7 years, Lena and her amazing volunteers distributed food into the community with monthly mobile drops and at 2 senior living centers in Orange County. In 2018, Family Ties provided over 255, 000 meals to those in need in Orange County.

Lena was always active with her church and was considered a spiritual mother to many. She was a loving caring beautiful soul who loved to laugh and have fun with her family and friends and her clients.
Everyone was always welcome, no one was a stranger for very long.

Lena struggled with health issues recently but it never let it stop her from serving others. There were times that Lena called Second Harvest from her hospital bed to give us updates, work on a situation or schedule her next mobile drop.

Lena E. Tolliver, passed away suddenly on February 4, 2019 in Orlando. She will be greatly missed and her legacy will live on thru the mission of Family Ties. Lena’s daughter Roxie Batten attended to accept this award in her mom’s honor.

March 21, 2019

Seminole State College Establishes Raiders Helping Raiders Pantry To Help Students In Need

Author: Agency Relations & Programs Team

The lack of reliable access to sufficient quantities of affordable, nutritious food and hygiene items is common at colleges and universities across the country. A 2016 study by the National Conference of State Legislatures, found that 48 percent of U.S. college students reported facing food insecurities. When students are forced to pick between food or their education, the study found that both their health and academic performance suffered. 

To provide assistance to students in need, Seminole State College has established the Raiders Helping Raiders Pantry. Through the College’s Destination Graduation, a partnership with the Heart of Florida United Way, and its new affiliation as an official Second Harvest Food Bank Partner Agency, the pantry will provide students in need with both food and hygiene items. 

As a Second Harvest Food Bank Partner Agency, the College has been able to almost triple the amount of food they are now able to provide their students. “As someone who serves students who experience crisis, I am very excited and proud to be part of this collaborative project. Being food insecure while trying to complete a college degree is a big challenge and asking for help is often difficult for many students,” said Keren Rohena, Destination Graduation manager. “By bringing this resource on campus and raising awareness, we are hoping to reduce stigma around this issue and impact as many students as possible. The Raiders Helping Raiders Pantry is a great example of how non-profits, higher education institutions, and the campus community can come together to tackle the problems that affect us.” 

Seminole State’s Destination Graduation has been recognized nationally as an innovative program that connects at-risk students to the resources they need to stay in school. In partnership with Heart of Florida United Way, the program’s goal is to increase the graduation rates of low-income and veteran students attending Seminole State by providing onsite, comprehensive support. 

The Raiders helping Raiders Pantry is located in the student center on the Sanford/Lake Mary Campus with points of contact at the Oviedo, Heathrow, and Altamonte Springs locations to ensure students at all campuses have access to the program.   

We are excited to welcome Raiders Helping Raiders Pantry to the Second Harvest of Central Florida family and we look forward to a long and successful partnership.

Patti DeLaCruz

Agency Relations Manager