A holiday gift of food to needy
The holidays center around food in most homes — particularly feasts like the one on Thanksgiving. Christmas Day comes with its own specialties. Less ceremonial and more informal, New Year’s Day marks the end of the indulgence, usually in front of the television watching college bowl games.
These good times are not shared by all. From food shortages to food deserts, poverty to poor pay, Manatee County strives to keep up with the cries for assistance. The challenge is great.
The homeless population has soared to around 500, a disturbing total discovered during the county’s homeless count in January.
A United Way of Florida report issued two years ago shows that the incomes of 45 percent of the state’s 7.2 million households do not regularly cover the basics — including food, housing and health care. The report, titled “Asset Limited, Income Constrained Employed,” also indicated that 30 percent of Manatee County’s population risks falling into poverty, possibly joining the 13 percent already struggling there. These ALICEs, as the report calls this population, are our neighbors, our restaurant servers, our store clerks.
Those figures reflect the never-ending need for sustenance. As do these: The Food Bank of Manatee collects and distributes some 4.5 million pounds of food annually to distribute among more than 100 social service agencies, soup kitchens and food pantries. In a striking comparison, after opening in 1983, the Food Bank only handed out 400,000 pounds of food a year.
The frequent calls for help empty the Food Bank shelves, a regular occurrence — especially in summer. Last Thursday and Friday, the Food Bank held its primary fund-raiser of the year, the popular Empty Bowls Luncheons. For only $25, patrons purchase a ceramic bowl individually created and select one of the soups. Like the soups, the bread and desserts are all donated by local chefs and restaurants, another sign of the community’s support for this continuing effort to serve the hungry.
Any business can request a food barrel to help this effort. About 275 are spread out around the county. Major food drives such as the annual “Stuff the Bus” event, held at all Manatee County Publix locations (which this year drew a remarkable 400 volunteers), contribute mightily. Some 35 grocery stores stock Food Bank shelves with an astounding 2.5 million pounds of food annually, food that in the past went to the dump. Individual donors are certainly celebrated. One, 87-year-old Ray Baden, hand-delivered a $10,000 check to the Food Bank on Giving Tuesday last week, evoking tears from the Food Bank’s director, Cindy Sloan.
Sloan described Manatee County’s solidarity with the Food Bank mission upon accepting the check. “This makes me feel that people understand us and want to support us and that makes me feel really special,” she told Herald reporter Richard Dymond.
Among the other seven recipients of $10,000 from the Sara and Ray Baden Fund were two key organizations serving the homeless and hungry, Turning Points and the Salvation Army. Kudos to the Baden Fund for this largesse.
November and December are the busiest time of year for the Food Bank, when both supply and demand peak. Our seasonal friends are generous in their support, a key to building the supply. But the need never slows.
Holiday gifts of food would brighten a family’s day. Donations of non-perishable food can be dropped off inside a barrel located at county library branches, Goodwill stores and the Food Bank, 811 23rd Ave. E., Bradenton. For other options and more information, check foodbankofmanatee.org.
This story was originally published December 3, 2016 at 3:04 PM with the headline "A holiday gift of food to needy."