Archive for the 'Agency Relations' Category
June 18, 2018Summer Feeding Fun with Rep. Stephanie Murphy
Author: Agency Relations & Programs TeamDuring the summer, the most vulnerable students are given access to meals through Second Harvest Food Bank’s Summer Food Service Program across our six-county service area. These students spend their summers eating healthy food, being with friends and preventing the dreaded brain drain.
Last week, Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy (FL-07) visited one of the Summer Food Service sites in Seminole County with her staff. She took part in the lunchtime distribution of meals, ensuring students had a selection of either strawberry or the much-desired chocolate milk.
After distributing the milk, Rep. Murphy was able to sit down with students ranging from kindergarten to middle school to find out their favorite parts of the day. She taught them what a Congresswoman does on a day-to-day basis, too.
Congresswoman Murphy and her staff helped feed a healthy balanced meal to nearly 200 children at Midway Safe Harbor in Sanford. In Seminole County, 18.2% (roughly 57,730) of all children under 18 are food insecure, meaning they don’t know where their next meal will come from. Hunger never takes a vacation. And through sites like this one, Second Harvest is able to provide kids with a meal so they can continue to be our future.
Partner Agency Conference 2018
Author: Agency Relations & Programs TeamOn Thursday March 8th 2018, over 150 Partner Agencies with close to 300 people attended the 3rd Annual Partner Agency Conference at Calvary Orlando. This years theme was Second Harvest Luau and the participants wore their favorite Luau attire and had a great time. We offered 8 breakout sessions and 2 general sessions focusing on Health and Hunger and Advocacy. A Huge Thank You to all the staff who helped in the planning, facilitating and giving support the day of the event. The volunteers felt loved and supported and learned a lot of valuable information.
We also presented awards to some of our Agencies. The Feed Award went to St Cloud Community Pantry, the Lead Award went to Catholic Charities, the Strengthen Award was awarded to Faith Neighborhood Center, Capacity Building Award went to Hands for Healing, Lifetime Achievement was presented to Jerry Doyle from First Baptist Church of Umatilla and Person of the Year was Chris Assanah from Operation Love Outreach. Our 2018 Hurricane Heroes are No One Hungry-Brevard, Joining Hands in Food Ministry-Lake, Good Samaritan Outreach-Orange, Iglesia Cristiana Renuevo-Osceola, The Picnic Project-Seminole and Provision Packs –Volusia.
Building Agency Capacity Leads to More Fresh Food Distributed
Author: Agency Relations & Programs Team
Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida is intentionally increasing the output of fresh, healthy food into our community. Thanks to farmers, growers, retail partners and food suppliers, more than 52% of the food distributed last year was fresh! This means more fruits, vegetables, dairy and meats found their way onto the plates of kids, seniors and families in Central Florida.
One way to keep this momentum moving in the right direction is to build capacity at local feeding partners. When food pantries and programs have the right equipment to safely store perishable food, more of our neighbors can enjoy fresh produce, milk, and meat.
Manna Medical recently donated 10 coolers and refrigerators to Second Harvest to share with local pantries, like Shepherd Vision Ministry in Parramore. This weekly feeding program began several years ago when Yolaine Phillip had a vision to lift up her neighborhood. “I saw so much need around the stadium,” she recalls. “I would take people food and try to connect my neighbors with different organizations.”
Last year, the organization lost its only refrigerator when they relocated to a new building. They used to include produce in their weekly distribution, like apples, potatoes and other items. Now they can only distribute basic pantry items. When Yolaine received a call that a refrigerator was available, she came the same day to pick it up.
“This is a blessing to so many people,” Yolaine said. “Thank you, very much.”
It may be one small change, but over time, these donated refrigerators will cause a ripple effect throughout the community. With each bag of produce or gallon of milk, a family in need will be fed and nourished, thanks to you.
If you are an agency who could increase your capacity by serving more fruits, vegetables and meats with the help of a cold storage unit please send your requests to fdelgado@feedhopenow.org
October 27, 2017Childhood Hunger in Lake County
Author: Agency Relations & Programs Team
In Central Florida, one in four children is at risk of going to bed hungry. Sadly, hunger can dramatically impact a student’s ability to perform well in school and affect their interest in engaging with the world around them. Thanks to the National School Lunch Program, many students are able to access free breakfast and lunch during the school week. However, many of these students return to school on Monday with empty stomachs and are unable to concentrate on their lessons.
In 2016, Lake Cares Food Pantry, one of Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida’s feeding partners, took over a weekend backpack program at Triangle Elementary School in Mt. Dora. Many of the families that access its main pantry have students who attend the school, where 86% of the students participate in the National School Lunch Program. Each week, Lake Cares provides 35-40 backpacks filled with peanut butter, jelly, bread, fruit cups, snacks and other non-perishable items.
The school recently honored Lake Cares for its support and partnership. The students presented Irene O’Malley with handmade cards expressing their gratitude. Irene was most impressed by the student’s understanding of hunger and awareness of how Lake Cares is here to help them succeed.
Learn more about Second Harvest Food Bank’s programs for kids: http://www.feedhopenow.org/site/PageServer?pagename=how#kids
Photos below courtesy of Triangle Elementary.
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