Their fax machine wasn’t working.
That’s typically a headache at any business. But this outage was cutting off a lifeline.
Such was my introduction last week to The Food Bank of Manatee, and it couldn’t have been more humbling and inspiring. Manager Cindy Sloan was in high gear — her norm, I soon learned. Without a fax, they couldn’t receive applications from the churches, food banks, sheriffs department, Manatee Glens and 95 agencies that reach out to the food bank to feed Manatee’s destitute.
Rather than wait and risk a pressing application, Cindy reached out to those in most immediate need. As we stood there soaking it all in, a pastor brought in a young, almost emaciated woman who needed food for her children. And she was terrified, knowing how embarrassed her husband would be.
Cindy’s voice was consoling and matter-of-fact at the same time. “We’re here to help — and don’t think that makes you any less a person,” she stated. With the pastor’s arm to lean on, the woman filled out the needed paperwork and left with a week’s worth of nourishment.
The Food Bank, under the auspices of Meals on Wheels Plus, has never been more essential in our community. In August alone, they sent out 29,982 pounds of food in emergency baskets, and 227,904 pounds of food for agencies and churches to distribute. That’s more than a quarter-million pounds of nourishment — and every ounce was needed by someone who has hit hard times.
“We distributed 1 1/2 million meals last year, and the need has multiplied this year,” Cindy told us. “And we’ll accept just about anything we can give away, to help these families.”
Each application asks for details of all family members, their background, expenses and “Emergency Reason for Need — Must be Current.” From those, Cindy and her staff of five tailor baskets and donations. A couple who had to take in their grandkids suddenly had eight mouths to feed, and they received some extra clothing along with their food basket.
Our local grocery stores play an amazing role in all this. Every morning, Food Bank’s two drivers make a Publix and Sweetbay run, picking up food that hasn’t expired, but appears to be excess. Wal-Mart, Winn-Dixie, local bakeries — they all contribute. And thanks to Darryl Turner’s generous donation, Food Bank has refrigerated trucks that can also pick up pallets of food from area farms.
They still need more.
“Churches are running out of food before the line is served each week,” Cindy said. “Have you been to the One-Stop Center? The first-time visitors are overwhelming.”
I was at the Food Bank with County Commissioner Carol Whitmore, who has made a personal mission out of getting more help to the hungry. She is working out a system with more local farmers to get their leftover food to the Food Bank and other local shelters.
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