Helping The Hungry

There are 1.4 million people in South Florida who struggle to put food on the table, often having to choose between eating and paying bills or going to the doctor. 

Leading the effort to relieve their hunger is Feeding South Florida (FSF), a food bank headquartered in Pembroke Park that supplies about 300 soup kitchens, shelters, childcare centers and other places in Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. 

With a fleet of 20 refrigerated trucks, FSF makes more than 500 pickups each week to “rescue” food from retail stores, farmers, manufacturers and other places and to collect from food drives. Last year, the nonprofit distributed nearly 150 million meals to over 1 million people, including children, seniors, veterans, single parents and poor, working families. 

FSF deploys 40,000 volunteers annually to carry out its mission. Boca Raton resident Elke Bachik, 86, volunteers every Wednesday at FSF’s community kitchen in Boynton Beach to fill food containers and prepare them for distribution. 

“We push out 500 meals in one afternoon — all cooked from scratch, no junk food,” she says. “It is really amazing. I think many of the people who get these meals, they’ve never eaten healthy.”  

A member of the nationwide food bank network Feeding America, FSF also fights hunger and poverty through advocacy, education and initiatives such as its culinary and warehouse training and job placement programs, which started earlier this year, FSF’s 40th anniversary year. 

The culinary program is a 10-week curriculum that teaches food preparation, menu planning, knife skills and more. The warehouse training is a five-week program that focuses on food safety, inventory, distribution and other skills. 

This year FSF also launched its Mobile FARMacy, an affordable grocery store and nutrition education center that travels to health clinics, community events, senior sites and other locations. 

To prepare for Thanksgiving, FSF’s “Food Frenzy” food drive competition will start Oct. 25 and run through Nov. 12, with schools, companies, organizations and groups of friends competing to donate the most meals.  

FSF has very little overhead, with over 98% of donations going back to the community. “If ever there was a worthwhile charity, it is Feeding South Florida,” says Bachik. “For people who want to donate money, it goes to food, not to a big staff.”

For more information, call 954-518-1818 or visit feedingsouthflorida.org.