On December 9th the Table Sixty Committee conducted a Senior and Families Market and Resource Fair. The Table Sixty Committee consists of staff members from Second Harvest Food Bank, Winter Park Health Foundation, Catholic Charities, United Way, AARP, Seniors First, Senior Resource Alliance and UCF.
The Table Sixty Committee had determined through research that the Old Baldwin Park area near Semoran Blvd in East Orlando has an underserved senior population. The goal was to have a Market and Resource Fair in that area, so that we could talk with and survey the seniors to find what the needs may be in that underserved location.
We contacted The Knights of Columbus which is located in the Old Baldwin Park area and they were gracious enough to allow us to have the food distribution and resource fair at their location.
Dr. Jim Wright created the survey which we used when we spoke with the seniors that attended the event on the 9th. With the data from the survey we were to find out the 22 of the 25 people that were surveyed have food insecurity. More than half of the people surveyed did not know about the local food pantries in their area. And, 19 of the 25 people feel that they do not eat enough fresh produce, and should eat more.
We were very happy with the turnout for our first event targeting a specific population such as the seniors. We are hopeful that we will be able to have more food distributions, and learn more about the seniors in need in the Old Baldwin Park , and surrounding areas.
