Residents are invited to visit any one of 19 Publix Super Markets in Collier County from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 7, for a new food drive called “Let’s Feed Collier.”
The Harry Chapin Food Bank is partnering with Publix to bring in some of the most-needed items for the 30 partner agencies the food bank serves in Collier County. Participating is easy. Just go to a store, purchase one or more items, and donate them as you leave to the food bank staff and volunteers set up outside.
In Collier County, about 38,000 people are food insecure, which means they often don’t know where their next meal is coming from. About 13,500 are children.
In addition, about two-thirds of public school children in Southwest Florida are eligible for or receive free or reduced-price meals from their school because of their families’ low income. When school is out during the summer months, these daily meals aren’t available. Combine that with the fact that food donations generally decrease during the summer months, and it’s harder for the food bank’s partner agencies to help feed our neighbors in need.
Any donation of nonperishable food is welcome, but the items most needed are breakfast bars, canned fish or chicken, beans – dry or canned, other canned vegetables, cooking oil, pasta, pasta sauce, tomato sauce, dry milk, jelly, rice, cans of soup and beef stew.