Client Stories

Angela and Rene 900 600 Harry Chapin Food Bank

Angela and Rene

Angela and Rene Rivera met and fell in love while working at a resort in Pennsylvania. He’s a chef, and she’s in housekeeping. Since then, they built a life together in Florida with their two sets of school-aged twin daughters. When Hurricane Ian wiped out the bridges connecting Fort Myers to the Sanibel and Captiva…

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Together, we can fight summer hunger. 2624 1368 Harry Chapin Food Bank

Together, we can fight summer hunger.

The sweet sounds of summer vacation are echoing throughout Southwest Florida. Children’s laughter fills the air as they scoot down playground slides and swing from monkey bars. Their happy cheers resound while jumping like cannonballs into swimming pools and chasing each other in rousing games of hide-and-seek. These children spend the longer, school-free days with…

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Things Rarely Go According to Plan 1920 1280 Harry Chapin Food Bank

Things Rarely Go According to Plan

As a fifth-grade teacher, Carleen knows that you can create the perfect lesson on paper, but things rarely go according to plan. A good teacher learns not to panic and how to ease back toward the lesson at hand. For Carleen and her family, life has been a six-month struggle to keep moving forward through…

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Pumpkin Pie Croissant Bread Pudding 572 382 Harry Chapin Food Bank

Pumpkin Pie Croissant Bread Pudding

INGREDIENTS 5 -7 day old good quality Croissants and depending on size 1/2 cup raisins or (1/2 cup chopped pecans is optional) 1-2 teaspoons dark rum 3 cups milk 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk 3 large eggs 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/3 cup butter, melted 2 tablespoons…

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Food is Love. 1239 786 Harry Chapin Food Bank

Food is Love.

Think about what happens around a dining room table, people gather, families gather. And at that table more than just food is shared, love is shared. People share their lives, they share their ups, their downs, their joys, their happiness and even their sorrows. Food is love. Now imagine there is no food around that…

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A Path to a Brighter Future 1920 1280 Harry Chapin Food Bank

A Path to a Brighter Future

Cynthia knows what it is like to be hungry. Growing up in Immokalee to migrant parents who travelled wherever they could find work, she would start each school year in a different town or sometimes in a different state as her family followed the harvests around the country. Being a new student is stressful in…

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Bridging the Hunger Gap 1071 535 Harry Chapin Food Bank

Bridging the Hunger Gap

Harry Chapin Food Bank has been in Debbie’s life for over ten years. Debbie, a single mother of two, received a diagnosis from her doctor she never thought possible. She was very ill, and treatment options were inadequate in helping her recover. The outcome looked grave. Debbie worked full-time with a stable income and good…

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Coming Together to Feed Families in Need 2560 1699 Harry Chapin Food Bank

Coming Together to Feed Families in Need

It only takes a few minutes to see that Immokalee residents Shy Vasquez and her husband, Christopher, are wealthy. This wealth is not reflected in their bank accounts but lives comfortably in their family relationships, values, beliefs and hopes. Economically, however, this family is struggling. They struggle to make ends meet. They struggle to provide…

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Lisa Petriccione 592 324 Harry Chapin Food Bank

Lisa Petriccione

Lisa Petriccione has always carried on the family tradition of helping feed the hungry. Now she is on a mission to help keep those who distribute food for Harry Chapin Food Bank and those who receive it safe from getting the coronavirus sweeping through the country.

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Eneida 1072 804 Harry Chapin Food Bank

Eneida

Eneida, a single mom, doesn’t ask for sympathy. She started working in the Immokalee fields at age 13.

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