He said Brother's Keeper Soup Kitchen currently prepares about 150 sandwich meals daily.Ī man sitting in an area near the soup kitchen who identified himself only as Jeffrey said if not for the meals at the soup kitchen "he would starve to death." "I don’t know what we would do without them," he said.Įd Hamilton, assistant of operations at Brother's Keeper Soup Kitchen in downtown Ocala, said the operation has received food and donated some items to First Step Food Bank. He said the food bank’s warehouse staff does a fantasitic job of handling the food and helping out Gary Pascale, office manager at Marion County Veterans Helping Veterans, said the organization assists 70 to 100 veterans monthly with food, thanks to its partnership with First Step Food Bank. He emphasized that the merger was about people not just increased food distribution numbers.Įast praised Del Toro and the staff and said the merger should be an "awesome addition."Įast said she "believes in unity in the community" and people joining to help each other. The merger is aimed at bolstering the Marion County branch distribution level to perhaps 10 million pounds annually (more than 8.3 million meals) in a few years and provide programs like summer meals for school children, according to Derrick Chubbs, president and CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida.Ĭhubbs indicated the two food banks have worked together for 30 years but now have officially merged. Which ones received the most? Taking a look at the numbers Helping out: Give4Marion raised a record $771,000 for 87 local nonprofits. Local United Way gets interim CEO: Scot Quintel to lead Ocala/Marion homelessness office Local struggle: In SW Marion, a small land owner tries to resolve an access issue with On Top of the World 14 press conference at the Marion Branch warehouse at 4035 NE 36th Ave.įirst Step Food Bank was established in Ocala in 1992 and currently distributes about 2 million pounds of food annually (more than 1.6 million meals) to more than 40 agencies that operate 38 emergency food pantries, kitchens and other outreaches in Marion County, according to. The merger with Orlando-based Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, touted as one of Central Florida's largest hunger relief networks, was announced at a Nov. every second Wednesday and every third Saturday.Watch Video: Food bank merger helps those in need in Marion Countyįirst Step Food Bank of Ocala is now the Marion County branch of the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. The Christ Central New Ellenton location is open for food distributions from 11 a.m. "We're trying to just provide them with that healthy option." "The goal of what we're doing is to try to get more healthy foods out into the community so people become less dependent on those unhealthy foods," Elliott said. To combat this, one of the goals of Golden Harvest Food Bank is to not only make sure hungry people are fed, but also ensure that food options are healthy and nutritious. We just have to figure out how to collectively come together to solve it," Elliott said.Įlliott said many of the cheaper food options at dollar stores are high in sugar and are often highly processed foods. She said she thinks this uptick is due to inflation and the price of food increasing. "The vision here gets bigger and bigger."Īccording to Elliott, Golden Harvest Food Bank - which has two main locations, one in Aiken and one in Augusta - has recently seen an uptick in the number of hungry people. "We support the community we feed the community," Creech said. Deborah Creech, a pastor and the director of Christ Central Ministries in New Ellenton, said the mission station in New Ellenton is in the process of not only helping the hungry but also providing emergency shelter and already has a kids summer program. Christ Central Ministries has mission stations across South Carolina that serve the needs of their communities.
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