The 43-day long federal government shutdown disrupted the lives of federal workers and contractors, military families and SNAP recipients, among others. As the community’s largest emergency food provider, Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida is no stranger to responding to crises or the daily disaster of hunger. The food bank went into overdrive to distribute as much fresh, frozen and nonperishable food as possible through feeding partners, mobile distributions and special, targeted events for federal workers.
Throughout the prolonged shutdown, generous food and financial donors, dedicated feeding partners, caring volunteers and passionate advocates stepped up to support kids, families and seniors facing hunger.
42,102 Food Finder Searches
Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida’s online Food Finder tool began to see a spike in searches for food assistance beginning October 1. As the shutdown endured, the number of people seeking where they could find food for themselves and their families skyrocketed to a 300% increase.
“Each week we are having 15 or more new families come asking for assistance,” said Reverand John Clark, from No One Hungry/ Pine Street in Brevard County. As part of Second Harvest’s 870-feeding partner network, they stepped up to fill as many bags and boxes of food as possible to support their neighbors.
Community Response
Hunger heroes responded to the heightened need for food assistance in force. Supporters organized food and fund drives, Instacart shoppers participated in the Community Carts campaign, sending grocery deliveries directly to the food bank, volunteers signed up for every available spot on the October and November schedule, businesses created special promotions to raise funds and advocates helped spread the word through social media, podcasts, news broadcasts and more.
Special thanks to our friends at Rumba 100.3 FM for organizing a Day of Community broadcast live from Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida to share stories about the food bank’s mission, talk with staff members about programs that help feed kids, families and seniors, and different ways their listeners can get involved. The event also collected nonperishable food donations – enough to provide more than 2,264 meals!
Over 300,000 Meals a Day
Thanks to a caring and generous community, Second Harvest and its feeding partners did not miss a beat. Community support allowed food for 10.4 million meals to be distributed across the seven-county service area through emergency food pantries, school markets, after school programs and more.
Second Harvest made a special delivery to federal workers at Orlando International Airport in late October. In three short hours, 350 families received boxes filled with canned goods, frozen chicken, fresh produce and milk. Additional distributions were held at Daytona Beach International Airport and Melbourne Orlando International Airport to support federal workers.
“I’ve already made two meals with the food and am excited to be able to continue to cook, knowing I won’t have food insecurity for a bit,” he said, adding how working for five weeks without a paycheck with extremely difficult.
The food bank held 169 mobile food distributions during the shutdown across Central Florida. Many of the neighbors at these events expressed their stress and anxiety of trying to make ends meet without SNAP benefits, and also their gratitude that Second Harvest, local partners and volunteers were there for them in their moment of need.
“I feel horrible,” shared Veronica, thinking about the choices she faced around paying for upcoming medical bills for her daughter or keeping food on the table. “I’m glad I can go to the local pantry and churches until this gets sorted out.”
Your kindness and generosity made it possible for neighbors across Central Florida to find food and hope when they needed it most. Even though the government has reopened and SNAP benefits are flowing again, these kinds of disruptions have a long-lasting impact on recovery. As neighbors choose to take out loans, rack up credit card debt or default on payments, it will take time to regain stability. Thanks to you, Second Harvest and our partners will be here for neighbors throughout the holiday season and into the new year.
