A Helping Hand for Maria

Lending a hand to others often brings unexpected assistance your way.

“I used to volunteer at a food bank in New Jersey. And now it comes around to me,” says Maria, a senior who works part-time. Without full-time hours, she’s unable to keep up with the rising costs, including food. Maria’s story is all too familiar as one in 8 Central Floridians face hunger due to rising costs, health challenges, lack of affordable housing or access to education and training for higher paying jobs.

Together, We Can End Hunger in Central Florida

Despite a strong economy, promising outlook, and growing population, Florida continues to wrestle with a hunger crisis that will affect one in eight people – and one in five children – at some point this year.

It’s a serious problem that Florida’s lawmakers and nonprofits are rallying to solve – and recently, we took an important step toward that goal. This spring, the Florida House of Representatives gathered to allocate our state’s funding to new programs for the coming year – including a $2.9 million request for support from Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida called the Food Cost Mitigation Project.

Summer’s Weight: Bridging the Meal Gap While School is in Recess

Each year, when summer break rolls around, it brings mixed emotions. Kids are excited to be out of school and enjoying time away from alarm clocks, books and tests. But, for many parents – especially moms – the break from the academic year can also generate serious concern.

Making Every Hour Count: Lizzette’s Passion for Volunteering

Lizzette has always wanted to do two things: spend time with her dad and give back to the community. After 40 years of being regional manager for apartment communities, she decided to retire early to spend more time with her dad and volunteer at Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida.

Previously in South Florida, Lizzette did a lot of team volunteering at Feeding America with her company. Since moving to Central Florida, she looked around for a similar cause to find an extension of what she was doing and found Mercy Kitchen, the food bank’s production meal site. Lizzette feels that it is important to give back to help those who are in need, especially those facing hunger.