Programs and Outreach

 

A woman and child in the back of a car.

Food Distribution

Mobile Pantries: Community members receive fresh produce, meats, and groceries at different sites throughout the community.

Produce program: Mobile Farm Markets distribute fresh produce throughout the community.

Agencies Partner: Partner Agencies work with the food bank to provide food pantries and meals to our community.

Veterans pantry: Two Tuesdays a month, a Mobile Pantry dedicated to veterans is held at Church of the Palms in Sarasota.

Childhood Hunger

Campaign Against Summer Hunger: In an effort to fill the “hunger gap” that occurs when school is out and students lose access to free and reduced meals, the Campaign Against Summer Hunger raises funds for summer feeding programs that feed more than 35,000 children each year.

BackPack Program: Provides bags of kid-friendly, healthy food for students to take home to eat over the weekends and during holidays.

School & Family Pantry Program: Provides fresh produce, meats and groceries to families.

A girl with long hair is smiling for the camera.
A bunch of food is sitting in a box

Hunger & Health

We strongly believe hunger is a health issue. Since 2019, we have partnered with local healthcare providers and agencies to screen people for food insecurity. These neighbors are referred to the food bank and connected with food resources, benefits assistance and referrals to other community services.

Food Insecurity program: We have a total of 28 partners in 37 locations.
Partners include Sarasota Memorial Hospital- Venice Campus, DeSoto Memorial Hospital, Healthy Families, SPARCC, Healthy Start, Sarasota Medical Pregnancy Center, Multicultural Health Institute, and Links2Success and First 1000 Days in DeSoto County.

Benefits Assistance

As part of our commitment to address the root causes of hunger and meet people where they are, we have trained professionals available to assist clients with benefits applications and services.

These include:
• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP– formerly Food Stamps)
• Medicaid
• TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families)
• SOAR (SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery), which increases access to Social Security disability benefits for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness
• Financial aid requests
• Tax preparation assistance

A woman sitting at a desk with another person.
A man in green shirt holding a box.

Rural Hunger

Our Food and Resource Center in DeSoto County, where agriculture is the dominant industry, is the epicenter for needed resources- including food. Our team there provides wraparound services, including benefits assistance, group classes, referrals for other social services, and free tax preparation.