Feeding South Florida to Host Thanksgiving Food Distributions in Days Leading Up to Thanksgiving
Feeding South Florida®, the leading domestic hunger-relief organization serving South Florida, and the second largest food bank in the United States, is hosting special Thanksgiving food distributions with various partners and municipalities throughout Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade Counties. Over 1 million households throughout Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties are experiencing food insecurity this Thanksgiving season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Feeding South Florida will distribute turkey, protein, fresh produce, dairy and shelf-stable items on a first-come, first-served basis, while supplies last at the following locations:
Saturday, Nov. 21, 8 a.m.–11 a.m., 100 Black Men Feeding South Florida Main Warehouse, 2501 SW 32 Terrace, Pembroke Park, FL 33023
100 Black Men, a men's civic organization and service club with a goal to educate and empower African-American children and teens, in partnership with Publix Super Markets Charities will volunteer their time to organize and pack 2020 Thanksgiving meal boxes to be distributed by UPS. The food sorting and distribution will take place at the Feeding South Florida warehouse in Pembroke Park.
Monday, Nov. 23, 4:30–6:30 p.m., Miami Dolphins Foundation, Dolphins Thanksgiving
Hard Rock Stadium, 347 Don Shula Dr, Miami Gardens, FL 33056
Feeding South Florida will partner with the Miami Dolphins Foundation Food Relief Program to distribute turkey, shelf-stable items, and produce.
Monday, Nov. 23, 3–5 p.m., Miami Marlins, Marlins Thanksgiving
Marlins Park, 1390 NW 6th St., Miami, FL 33125
Feeding South Florida will partner with the Miami Marlins to distribute turkey, shelf-stable items, and other foods.
Tuesday, Nov. 24, 4–6 p.m., City of Greenacres
City of Greenacres City Hall, 5800 Melaleuca Ln., Greenacres, FL 33463
Feeding South Florida will partner with the City of Greenacres to distribute the first meals made at Feeding South Florida’s Community Kitchen, located at Feeding Palm Beach County, the organization’s Palm Beach County headquarters located in Boynton Beach. The new, state-of-the-art, 5,000-square-foot community kitchen was years in the making, and will provide meals to 1.5 million people in the four counties that Feeding South Florida serves (Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties).
Feeding South Florida has seen a 200% increase in demand since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020. Currently, there is a reduction of food boxes provided through the USDA’s Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), a program created with CARES Act funding. Feeding South Florida’s allocation has decreased from receiving 160 53’ trailer loads of food per week in phase 1, to 110 loads in phase 2, to 60 loads in phase 3, and now it is down to only 14 trailer loads per week in phase 4.
Feeding America food banks, including Feeding South Florida, have shared that at the end of December 2020, the country will experience a “commodity cliff,” which means food banks across the country will see more than a 50% reduction in food supply due to the expiration of the CARES ACT funding, USDA’s CFAP and Trade Mitigation commodity programs.
Throughout the pandemic, Feeding South Florida has seen more than 1.5 million individuals need assistance and more than 45% find themselves seeking food assistance for the first time in their lives. Despite the drastic reduction in resources, Feeding South Florida will continue doing all it can to serve every person in need of assistance.
To maintain the same level of output that the organization has seen as a result of CFAP food, Feeding South Florida will need $8 million per month to purchase food ― that’s enough for 40,000 to 50,000 households per week.
In addition to monetary donations (every $1 = 9 meals), Feeding South Florida is in need of volunteers to help pack family meal boxes, complete with fresh produce, protein, dairy and shelf-stable items. For more information and additional food distribution locations, please visit Feeding South Florida’s COVID-19 response web page at https://feedingsouthflorida.org/covid19/
Since March, Feeding South Florida has provided over 138.6 million pounds of food to its quad-county service area. To put that in perspective, last year during the same time period, Feeding South Florida provided 56.6 million pounds of food. As a result of its efforts to secure and distribute as much food as they can, Feeding South Florida is now the second largest food bank in the United States.