BRADENTON, Fla. — Food banks and food pantry operators in the area are in a bind and experiencing a shortage of food. Many are running out of food, which they need to help people in the community who are in need.
As the summer approaches, they say they are running out of time to stock the now-empty shelves with all kinds of non-perishable food items. If their supply is not replenished quickly enough, there won't be enough to go around, and many families could be left without food.
"I'm sure in the summer we will see more families coming to us and unfortunately, we're only able to service about 40 people who come," said Rev. Glen G. Graczyk, Rector, St Mary's Episcopal Palmetto.
Graczyk came to the Food Bank of Manatee to pick up food as much food that can fit into his car to fill up the church's pantry.
He said he looks for certain food items, especially ones rich in protein like meat, beans, vegetables, Mac and Cheese, and also rice.
Many who come to the church's pantry are retired seniors on a fixed income, unable to work, and with special dietary needs.
But unfortunately, after going from shelf to shelf at the food bank, he has come up short on some specific food items he requires to make the food boxes for his client families.
"Because donations are down, there isn't the availability of the food that I normally pick up here so I have to go and purchase food from other stores or retailers," Graczyk said.
Over the past several months, food prices have climbed by around 8% and coordinators of the Food Bank of Manatee run by Meals on Wheels Plus said it is affecting their services.
"Cost of groceries, the cost of living in general in the country with rent high gas prices, and the high cost of food, I think it's causing a perfect storm for families who normally can't provide for themselves but may be right on the edge," said Amy Towery, Meals on Wheels PLUS of Manatee.
Towery said there have been enough recent food drives and collections to keep up with the demand and so they're calling to the community to action to help the food bank and local pantries out.
"Anyone who can support please do. You can make monetary gifts through our website which will be used to purchase food in bulk. We leverage our wholesale buying power to be able to buy food in bulk by the pallet, to stretch every dollar as far as we can," Towery said.
"If you live in a housing community, an apartment complex, your business, your school, your civic groups that you're involved with, the faith organizations that you participate in, if you can do a food collection we'd be happy to drop off a yellow barrel for you to fill up and come back and pick it up when it's full," she said.
"If I had to purchase all of this food we wouldn't be able to serve as many people with as much food as we can so the food bank helps us out tremendously," Graczyk said.
The food bank and local pantries welcome any non-perishable food item donations. They are also calling on restaurants and farmers to help with things like fresh produce, dairy items, and meat.
Below are some helpful links and resources
- For a listing of Food Bank of Manatee food pantries and partner agencies, click here.
- For an interactive map of Food Bank of Manatee soup pantries and partner agencies, click here.
- For information on Food Bank of Manatee fresh produce distributions, click here.
- To host a food drive in support of The Food Bank of Manatee, a PLUS program of Meals on Wheels PLUS of Manatee, click here for our Food Drive Tool Kit.
- To register a food drive in support of The Food Bank of Manatee, a PLUS program of Meals on Wheels PLUS of Manatee, click here.
- To donate to The Food Bank of Manatee, a PLUS program of Meals on Wheels PLUS of Manatee, click here.
- To register as a volunteer for Meals on Wheels PLUS of Manatee, click here.
According to Towery, the Food Bank of Manatee distributed more than 3.1 million pounds of food in Manatee County in 2021.