Tuesday, October 11, 2022
Your food bank is heartbroken by the overwhelming losses our five-county footprint sustained. We are incredibly grateful for our community, one that is enduring this catastrophic event by rallying together in love. We are now distributing food at about the same level as our maximum distributions during the pandemic. Since the storm, we have distributed 1,568,130 pounds.
As you may have heard or seen, our warehouse in downtown Fort Myers received substantial damage – the storm ripped off a significant portion of our roof, which made it difficult to receive and distribute food. A temporary repair has been completed, and we continue to ramp up food distributions to offer relief. Many of the families we serve were already losing a battle with inflation before the hurricane hit. Now, they are facing life-altering scenarios. Entire homes have been lost. Livelihoods have been turned upside down. Families who have never had to wonder where their next meal is coming from are currently needing our help to survive. The scale of devastation we are seeing across Southwest Florida is unprecedented and tragic.
Now, more than ever, your food bank is serving as the safety net of the community, bridging the gap between people who are hungry and accessible, nutritious food. Prior to the storm, we distributed on average 700,000 pounds of food throughout our five-county footprint each week. We anticipate needing to distribute roughly 2,000,000 pounds each week for an extended period of time in order to meet the need caused by Hurricane Ian.
With all that is happening, we are reminded of what Mr. Rogers once said: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”
Let’s be helpers together.
To support our efforts, click here.
If you are looking for food, click here.
If you would like to donate food, click here.
If you would like to volunteer, click here.