Friday, October 2, 2020
This week, our own Kari Lefort, director of programs was featured in è Bella Magazine magazine as a Rebel With A Cause! Kari has been leading our food distribution programs for more than six years. Since the start of the pandemic, our food distribution has ballooned by 83 percent to help feed the quarter of a million people who are hungry each month in our five-county footprint.
Under her leadership, our only food distribution program that has shut down and remains shut down due to the COVID pandemic is our In-School pantries. Our senior feeding programs have had to adjust their distributions to serve this frequently overlooked population. Given that our seniors are particularly vulnerable to the virus, serving them has been particularly challenging. Kari and her team are doing everything in their power to meet their needs. If you are willing to help volunteer with this program, please click here.
Our Partner Agency Program is our largest food distribution program. This program is a network of over 150 partner agencies that serve Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry and Lee counties. Kari and her team helped many of these partners develop ways to modify their distribution models to maximize social distancing.
Our mobile pantries have completely shifted distribution methods to a drive-thru model. Our mobile pantries have increased from roughly 30 a month to nearly 50 a month in an effort to help feed the quarter of a million people who are hungry. Kari and her team are distributing over 6,000 kits of shelf-stable food that are being supplemented with fresh produce each week. Kari and her team have added additional drive-thru distributions and we are struggling to find enough change makers who are well, able, and willing to volunteer. If you are willing to help distribute food at our mobile pantries, please click here.
When Kari is asked about her work at the food bank, she often sites how motivated she is to feed those who are hungry. She has seen time and time again the gratitude that is expressed by the thousands of families that wait patiently in our car lines. We are lucky to have Kari’s passion and food distribution programs to help lead us in our vision that no one has to go hungry in our community.
To support our efforts, please click here.
If you are looking for food, please click here.
If you are well, able, and willing to volunteer, please click here to sign up.
To read Kari’s article in è Bella Magazine, please click here.
To hear Kari’s recent interview with Lois Thome, please click here.