SARASOTA (WSNN) – All Faith’s Food Bank holds another mass food distribution for the thousands of new food-insecure people on the Suncoast.
“People who never imagined being food insecure are suddenly hungry, and I think we have the obligation and the responsibility to help them” All Faiths Food Bank Board Chair, Nelle Miller, said.
More than 37 million people in the United States struggle with hunger. That’s according to the USDA’s 2019 Household Food Insecurity.
And with unemployment soaring, Feeding America predicts in their worst case scenario, 17.1 million more people will experience food insecurity.
All Faiths Food Bank Board Chair, Nelle Miller, says hunger is affecting everyone from children to the elderly and everyone in between.
“Hunger has gone up 120% in this community. So, not double, but 120% over the last few weeks,” Miller said.
But, kindness on the Suncoast is apparent as as volunteers spend part of their Saturday giving back. The National Guard, Baltimore Orioles, Yarnall Moving & Storage just some of the groups helping out.
“The opportunity to be able to come out and help the community at a time that really matters is imperative for me,” Miller said.
CEO, Sandra Frank, says they have enough food to feed 4600 households.
“When we got here, they were lined up down the streets,” Frank said.
She says just in the first hour they provided food to a thousand households.
But, at the end of the distribution day, they gave out nearly 4000 meal kits. Frank says there was a late rush, and cars were still lining up well after their end time at 2 pm.
Volunteers are giving out boxes of fresh vegetables and dairy as well as meals for families. All through the trunks of people’s cars.
“These are our neighbors, they’re not people we don’t know, they’re not faceless,” Miller said. “And if we don’t provide them with food, everything else that we do as humanitarians, activists, philanthropist, volunteers, and professionals in this community, doesn’t matter.”
Frank says this is not a short term problem, as business are slowing reopening.
“I’m hoping our community remembers that right now, this is relief,” Frank said. “We all have a recovery phase that will go on for months or maybe years.”
All Faiths held two mass distributions this month, one in North Port and one in Sarasota.
