Sometimes fighting hunger means meeting people where they are, bringing food to their doors.
Charlotte lives in an RV park in Ocala, where volunteers from Sharing Hope, a Second Harvest feeding partner in Marion County, have delivered her food for about three years. She said she feels blessed to receive soup, sandwiches and groceries, but also shares with others.
“If I don’t use it, I pass it along to others who can use it,” she said.
The volunteers who visit her every week treat her like a friend and talk to her about how she’s doing, never making her feel bad or ashamed, Charlotte said.
“They’re kind and caring,” she said. “It means a lot.”
Sharing Hope gets food to the people who need it in an unconventional way, no drive-through distribution or dedicated food pantry. Instead, volunteers spend every Friday preparing meals, packing bags of groceries and heading out on the road to deliver food to neighbors.
Christ’s Church of Ocala welcomes Sharing Hope to use the church kitchen every Friday to prepare and pack the meals. Sharing Hope has about 40 total volunteers who take turns throughout the month to staff cooking and delivery shifts.
The first shift of volunteers shows up at the church early in the morning, cooking the meals – soup and bread for the adults and hot dogs for the kids on a recent distribution day.
Stacey has been volunteering in the kitchen for about seven months. She said she likes how organized the operation is and feels good about helping others because she relates.
“There was a time in my life when I was so low,” she said. “I really wanted someone to help me.”
Then the second group comes in after lunch to drive the delivery route.
Julio, who directs Sharing Hope along with his longtime friend Joe, said he’s done this for 10 years because he loves it, especially feeding the children.
“I love seeing their faces when we get there and they smile,” Julio said.
Joe said Sharing Hope has distributed food doing this method for as long as he’s been there, 12 years. He said the person who created the organization started it by giving out bread and pastries but saw the need for hot meals.
Many of the people who are served by Sharing Hope live in hotel rooms, RVs, mobile homes, and some are homeless and living in the woods. Joe said they may not have the equipment to prepare the food, money to purchase the food, or transportation to go pick up food.
“They’re paying more than $1,000 month for these hotel rooms with two adults and two or three kids all in one room,” Joe explained. “The circumstances vary, but the needs are the same.”
One of the people helped by Joe and the team at Sharing Hope is Tom, who lives in an apartment community for seniors. Tom said he’s treated like family and looks forward to seeing Joe, Julio and the other volunteers every week. He was eagerly waiting in the parking lot in his wheelchair for them ahead of a recent visit.
“It’s hard to explain,” Tom said. “Even if they didn’t bring me anything, I’d still be so happy to see them.”
Joe said bags of non-perishable groceries are given out at the church when people need them, and the number of people asking for them has increased. He said they typically take about 56 kids lunches on the route, and those are almost always gone when they return.
He said they see some of the same people on the route all the time, but the numbers at the hotels and in the woods fluctuate with the seasons and the economy. They see many more children over the summer months and around holidays when school isn’t in session.
“When we go out, we always find people who need help,” Joe said. “We want to give back.”
Second Harvest has 870 Feeding Partners Across Seven Counties
$10 = 40 meals – and hope.
