PEMBROKE PARK, FLA. (WSVN) - Two of the largest food pantry providers in South Florida are saying the need for food donations has never been greater than it is right now.
“This is a scale and scope that we’ve never seen before,” Farm Share CEO Stephen Shelley said.
“This is a whole new animal for us. The pandemic has really creating havoc,” Feeding South Florida CEO Paco Vélez said.
Feeding South Florida and Farm Share are two of the most reliable resources for families in need of food right now, and they are working over time to provide.
“We are used to receiving about 120 phone calls a day,” Vélez said. “We are receiving over 4800 phone calls a day from our families looking for food assistance.”
“We are seeing similar figures,” Shelley said. “We’ve gone from doing five to seven food distributions a week to three or four of those on a given day.”
Just about every day there’s a food giveaway in one of our communities, along with heartbreaking stories and no shortage of those affected.
“I lost my job two weeks back,” said a food donation recipient. “I need some assistance to feed my family, you know.”
Seeing those long car lines inspired a South Florida law firm, Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen, to donate.
“These folks are out of work, probably not getting paychecks and no real access to feeding themselves or their families,” said Neal Roth.
The firm has donated $25,000 to Feeding South Florida, and just one dollar conated to Feeding South Florida will create seven meals.
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