PEMBROKE PARK, FLA. (WSVN) - Food pantries are on a mission to feed hungry South Floridians. Now, one organization is leading the charge to put food on tables for families during the holidays.
More than a million people in South Florida will not have enough to eat for Thanksgiving and one in nine don’t know where they will receive their next meal.
“Food insecurity here in South Florida is really getting out of control,” said Paco Velez, CEO of Feeding South Florida.
Valez said that for Thanksgiving, he hopes the organization will provide 7,000 families with meals.
“It’s getting to where you need to make over $70,000 for a family of four just to live in South Florida, and families can’t put that kind of money together and are struggling to put food on the table,” he said.
The organization’s warehouse in Pembroke Park holds 2.5 million pounds of food. In a single month, they will give away twice as much.
“If we stop bringing in food to Feeding South Florida, we will be empty in about eight days,” Velez said. “So the food just goes out.”
That’s why donations and volunteers are crucial.
“What we’re seeing here, is folks are inspecting the product,” Velez said.
7News cameras captured several volunteers as they prepared meals.
Students were among those volunteers.
“It makes me feel good because it makes me feel like I’m helping people out and it makes me feel like, I just feel like a better person,” said a volunteer.
“South Florida’s always been a giving community, regardless of what’s going on in the world or what’s going on just in South Florida, they’ve always come out,” Velez said.
For more information on how to donate or volunteer at Feeding South Florida, click here.
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