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A Feeding America directed grant from Red Nose Day USA has been supporting our work in the fight against Child Hunger. We have used the grant to fund our SnackPack Program, which has grown substantially since this past fall and seen an influx of community support jump-started by this generous grant.

Food as Medicine. A presentation by Feeding Northeast Florida dietetic intern Alison Kucharski regarding the use of nutrition to help fight hypertension, diabetes and cancer. Also, an overview for our community partners about nutritious items to stock in their food pantries.

MATT PITTMAN: Welcome to Feeding Northeast Florida. My name is Matt Pittman. Today I’m talking with the Director of Compliance and Capability Eli Darkatsh. Today we're talking about something serious. We’re talking about disaster preparedness.

ELI: That’s correct, Matt. It’s great to be here. Thank you for being here today. As you know, it is hurricane season. And now we’re in June, so we want to ensure people are ready in case a hurricane strikes our area.

MATT: Now, this is definitely something that we are familiar with, unfortunately. Definitely in this area, we get impacted pretty hard.

ELI: That’s correct. We get impacted regularly in the state of Florida. Hopefully, this won’t be a terrible season, but just in case, it’s good to be prepared. Feeding Northeast Florida is the largest hunger relief network in the region. We are uniquely positioned with the ability to access and deploy regional and national resources immediately. So as a member of the Feeding America network, we can acquire water, food and critical items quickly, as well as receive staffing assistance from other network food banks to respond to local needs faster. Our Feeding Florida network also allows us to access assistance from both FEMA and the Florida legislature.

MATT: It’s pretty amazing. So, how exactly as an organization is it your disaster role?

ELI: Yeah, our role during a hurricane or other national disaster is to work cooperatively with other disaster relief organizations, like the American Red Cross, Salvation Army and United Way, serving as an avenue for distributing food and other essential grocery items to them and to our partner hunger relief organizations.

MATT: Let’s talk a little bit about the past as well. Because like we said, you guys have seen this before. So, tell me what are the roles you guys have seen in the past.

ELI: Sure, yeah. In September 2017, Hurricane Irma hit Northeast Florida. Six million Floridians lost power and thousands needed rescue from rising waters. Now, for people already living one crisis away from food and economic insecurity before Hurricane Irma, the storm forced many out of their homes, leaving them far from family, church, or other traditional means of support. So, Feeding Northeast Florida positions critical resources in hardest hit areas thanks to the financial support of our community and the assistance of our dedicated volunteers. But we also assisted people in the panhandle in 2018 when Hurricane Michael hit. Feeding Northeast Florida sent more than 14,500 meals, 12 pallets of cleaning supplies, beverages, dried groceries, snacks, baby food, and even a freezer trailer to help support people in need of food and supplies through our partnership with Feeding Florida and Feeding America.

MATT: Now, as an organization, how do you guys stay prepared here at Feeding Northeast Florida?

ELI: We’ve developed a disaster response plan for our 160 hunger relief network partners, allowing us to better respond in the event of a disaster. Feeding Northeast Florida is also a member of the Northeast Florida Volunteer Recovery organization, designed to assist post-emergency. And we also are a support organization of all of the county emergency management plans.

MATT: Now, I know there’s a ton of people out there watching right now, and they are wondering how they can get involved and what they can do to help.

ELI: Yeah, it’s a great question. You can always use help from the community. People can make a donation to help us stand ready if a disaster strikes or volunteer to help Feeding Northeast Florida. They can visit our website at FeedingNEFL.org. That’s FeedingNEFL.org.

MATT: It’s a lot of information, but it is a time that you can go out and help. Eli, thanks for talking to me today. And for more information, again, it’s FeedingNEFL.org.

On July 18th Feeding Northeast Florida conducted a mobile pantry at Ribault High School in Jacksonville. Thanks to our partners Florida Blue and First Coast YMCA, we were able to assist 145 households and 457 individuals.

MATT PITTMAN: Welcome to feeding Northeast Florida. My name is Matt Pittman, where today, I get to talk to Feeding Northeast Florida Director of Partnerships and Programs Sarah Hall. Sarah, thank you for talking to me today.

SARAH HALL: Of course.

MATT: All right, so it is officially back to school time. And in today’s video, I’m going to kick off with a crazy stat you guys told me, that more than 20 percent of the 270,000 individuals that are food insecure in Northeast Florida are under the age of 18. So today we’re gonna talk a little bit about how you guys help them out.

SARAH: Yeah. So, at Feeding Northeast Florida, we’re very focused on making sure children as well as their families get access to the healthy food that they need. So, for the schools, so many kids get free and reduced breakfast and lunch at school. But they don’t always have consistent access to food over the weekends. So, we provide what we call snack packs for these kids, so they have something to eat when they get home from school on Friday.

MATT: All right, let’s talk about some of those foods you guys provide. We’re talking healthy, nutritious foods.

SARAH: Yes. So, we like to provide the kids food that’s easy for them to open and easy for them to eat. Things that they don’t really need to prepare. Things like applesauce, granola bars, cereal, items like that that the kids like to eat, and that they’re able to get into themselves.

MATT: All right, let’s talk a little bit more about some of the other problems that these kids may see.

SARAH: Yeah. So, so many kids don’t have access to fresh food, so they tend to fall behind in school. It’s hard for them to focus. It’s hard for them to show up on time for school because they’re hungry. So we talk to teachers and school administrators all the time all over the county, and they always tell us, if we can send this kid to school with a full stomach, then they behave better in school and they achieve better.

MATT: That’s great. All right, for all the people out there that are watching right now, and they maybe want to help or maybe they need some help, where can they go and what should they do?

SARAH: Sure. You can visit our website. It’s FeedingNEFL.org. And that’s for people who need food or would like to help support the snack packs.

MATT: All right, all you kids going back to school, enjoy. And if you, again, would like to help or need some help, go to the website it’s FeedingNEFL.org.

Overview and instructions from Feeding Northeast Florida for handling, receiving and transporting food safely, as well as evaluating food donations. Other sections detail cleanliness, hygiene and sanitizing in the warehouse area.

Feeding Northeast Florida helps areas impacted by Hurricane Irma, which caused severe flooding and property damage in Jacksonville on September 11, 2017.

Training video from Feeding Northeast Florida on appropriate handling and use of chemicals in the warehouse.

MATT PITTMAN: Welcome to Feeding Northeast Florida. My name is Matt Pittman, where today we get to talk to volunteer coordinator Blake Joel about all the volunteers here at Feeding Northeast Florida. Blake, thanks for talking to me.
BLAKE JOEL: Yeah, thanks for coming back and we’re happy to have you.
PITTMAN: All right, I want to learn all about the volunteer system.
JOEL: Definitely. So, we see about 11,000 volunteers a year. That’s equivalent to 16 full-time staff members. So as you can imagine, we really cannot do what needs to be done without our volunteers.
PITTMAN: It is a big job. So, let’s talk about that job. What kind of stuff are they doing every single day here at Feeding northeast Florida?

JOEL: So, the volunteers are definitely the heartbeat of our organization. Every day our volunteers come in, and we never know what they’re going to get into. Some days it’s helping sort through our shelf stable items, some days we’ve got frozen items we need to get out. And then other days we have produce from local farmers, and we need that sorted out as well.
PITTMAN: What is the criteria to become a volunteer here at Feeding Northeast Florida?
JOEL: We just want our volunteers to be over the age of 14. Other than that, we just want people that want to come and help make a big difference in the community.
PITTMAN: Alright, people watching right now who want to get more details… where can they go?

JOEL: Yeah. Check us out online. Our website is FeedingNEFL.org/volunteer.

PITTMAN: Easy enough. Get out there, find out some details about this volunteer system. And if you would like to get involved, again go to FeedingNEFL.org

MATT PITTMAN: Welcome to Feeding Northeast Florida. My name is Matt Pittman. Where today, I get to talk to Feeding Northeast Florida’s manager of agency relations, Molly Sweet. And Molly, you’re going to talk to me today about the enormous amount of partners that you all have that actually helped bring food to people who need it most here in Northeast Florida. So thanks for talking time today.

MOLLY SWEET: Thank you for being here. We really appreciate you coming out to highlight our agency partners. They are a critical part of our organization, and without them, we wouldn’t be able to do nearly the amount of work that we do to distribute food out to the community.

MATT: Now with these agencies, how exactly do they help bring food to people who need it most?

MOLLY: Well, we work with about 160 different agencies, and that’s in all eight counties of Northeast Florida. If you think about Feeding Northeast Florida as the main distributor, our agencies make up a network of satellite distribution sites where people in any community or neighborhood or territory can go to receive food assistance. So, if somebody in Baker County, for example, needs assistance, they don’t have to come all the way to Jacksonville. They can go to a pantry in their neighborhood or very close to their home. We have representation in all of those areas. Even we can’t get to that point on a daily basis.

MATT: I think what’s amazing too about Feeding Northeast Florida, the people who you partner with actually bring their services to assist people in need here in Northeast Florida as well. It’s one of the great things about your partnerships. And you have over 160. Now, we can’t mention every single one of those, but how about mentioning a few of the organizations you partner with?

MOLLY: Sure. We have the gamut. So, we partner with organizations like Sulzbacher, JASMYN, B.E.A.M. Those are more commonly known. Clara White Mission, Lutheran Social Services, just to name a few.

MATT: That’s great. All right, so if someone is watching today, maybe they want to help, or they have an organization that is perfect to partner with, where can they go to get more details?

MOLLY: They can actually visit our website www.feedingnefl.org/newpartners to become an agency or to find out more information about that.

MATT: Now, this is great. All right, this partnership is so important to the success of Feeding Northeast Florida. So again, to get more details, go to FeedingNEFL.org.

Volunteers assembling Snack Packs at Feeding Northeast Florida. These bags of healthy, nutritious snacks and drinks are distributed to students throughout the school year to help fill in the food gap on weekends.

MATT PITTMAN: Welcome to Feeding Northeast Florida. My name is Matt Pittman. Today we’re talking with Sarah Dobson about summertime. Now, for so many kids here on the First Coast, this can be an extremely stressful time in their lives. Explain a little bit about why.

SARAH DOBSON: That’s right, Matt. Many children in our community depend on the breakfast and lunch they receive at school. So without that food provided by the school system, thousands of kids in our community will go hungry in the summer. Based on the findings from a 2016 study by Feeding America, here in our eight county service region there are over 270,000 people who are facing hunger and 28% of those are children under the age of 18. So, it’s thousands of kids we are talking about. During the school year, starting every October and going throughout the year, Feeding Northeast Florida provides kid-friendly snack packs to many school children. We drop them off on Friday, and the kids have a five-pound pack of kid-friendly food like peanut butter, low-sodium crackers, trail mix, cereal and granola bars. So, that’s a way we can help out during the school year. Of course in the summertime, those kids need extra help.

MATT: How do you guys help out during the summertime?

SARAH: In the summertime, we have many stable pantries, which operate all year long. But we also have mobile pantries in particular communities. Because we know that a provision of healthy food is so important to kids for their growth, their energy, their brain development. So we make sure those pantries are stocked with healthy foods like those.

MATT: If somebody is out there watching on your website or watching on social media and they may need some help on their own, where can they go?

SARAH: They can go right to our website FeedingNEFL.org/food. You can do a search there and find pantries right nearby in your neighborhood. And I should add, the pantries are there to help children but they’re there to support the families as well.

MATT: Also, there are people watching, and they would like to help, where should they go?

SARAH: Same spot.

MATT: Easy enough.

SARAH: FeedingNEFL.org, and yes, we would love help all year long, but in the summer, when it’s especially critical, we need volunteers, sponsors, as well as monetary donations. Building on the strength of our food bank, at Feeding Northeast Florida, we are able to make a dollar donation help feed a person six meals. That one dollar can really stretch and help a great number of people. We are proud of that and happy to receive donations to utilize in that manner.

MATT: That’s great. Thank you, Sarah. Again, to get more details, go to FeedingNEFL.org.

SARAH: Thanks, Matt

MATT PITTMAN: Welcome to Feeding Northeast Florida. My name is Matt Pittman, where today I get to talk to one of the drivers here at Feeding Northeast Florida, Mr. Jack Corey. Thanks for talking to me today.

JACK COREY: Thank you, Matt. Thanks for having me. As a driver for Feeding Northeast Florida, it’s just the most exciting thing I've ever done.

MATT: I think it’s pretty amazing. You seem like you’re a busy guy. Always on the go. So let’s get into it. Let’s talk a little bit about what you do.

JACK: Well, what I do as far as a driver, one of the things I do is I actually make deliveries to mobile pantries.

MATT: Now with the mobile pantries, what exactly do you do with the mobile pantries?

JACK: Well, with the mobile pantries what I’m doing is I’m actually bringing a truckload of food for the local residents as far as the churches. And what they do is they have a mobile pantry for the local residents who aren’t able to actually get to the stores or are unable to have somebody there. They’re able to come here and actually get food.

MATT: That’s pretty cool. So, along with the mobile pantries, you guys deal with some retail partners as well.

JACK: Yes, we do. Our retail partners are excellent. What we do is we actually announce where the drivers actually go to pick up the food at the local retailers. The food they are unable to sell, they donate to us.

MATT: That’s pretty great. So, you do that, we can’t name all of the partners, but what are some of the few retail partners that you guys have?

JACK: We deal with Walmart, Costco, Sam’s Club, Publix, just to name a few of them.

MATT: That’s pretty cool. Now if someone is watching, and they would like to be one of your retail partners, where do they go, what do they do?

JACK: What they do is they go to our website FeedingNEFL.org, and from there, they'll be able to find the different steps to become one of our partners.

MATT: All right, Jack, thanks for talking to me today. If you are in need, or you would like to donate, or you would like to be a retail partner, it's all on the website. It's FeedingNEFL.org.

Feeding Northeast Florida Director of Compliance and Capability Eli Darkatsh presents a comprehensive guide to preparing for emergencies and natural disasters such as hurricanes. The information in this video can benefit our community partners and agencies before, during and after hurricane season.

Feeding Northeast Florida's Eli Darkatsh, Director of Compliance & Capability, outlines steps to prevent or treat heat-related illnesses especially during the summer months.

MATT PITTMAN: Welcome to Feeding Northeast Florida. My name is Matt Pittman, where today I get to talk to Feeding Northeast Florida Benefits Outreach Manager Reggie Dokes. Today we're going to be talking about SNAP benefits. Thanks for talking to me.

REGGIE: Hey, Matt. How you doing today?

MATT: Doing great. All right, let’s get into it. What does SNAP stand for?

REGGIE: SNAP is the supplemental nutrition program. It pretty much covers everything from Medicaid to Medicare savings. There are food stamps and some cash assistance for people with children.

MATT: Let’s get into it a little bit more. How can someone benefit from SNAP?

REGGIE: We have our food stamp program. It’s always helping people take care of their food. You have your cash assistance and your savings plan. They are government programs that we can use. It’s free. You don’t have to pay for it. You just go sign up for it.

MATT: That’s great. All right, let’s talk about signing up. How do people apply for SNAP?

REGGIE: For SNAP, you usually go to the government website, which would be AccessFlorida.org. You go on there, and you can apply for any of these things. You don’t have to have anyone with you, and you can do it right online.

MATT: Now with Feeding Northeast Florida, let’s talk a little bit about the food aspect. How do we get food with SNAP?

REGGIE: Pretty much one of the big things they have is food stamps. That’s one of the biggest SNAP programs. With this program, it helps get food to people we can’t reach. We have a lot of food, but we can’t cover everyone. So what we can’t cover, we try to fill the gap with food stamps and other assistance programs to help them fill the gap where we can’t touch.

MATT: Talk a little bit about food that we get at the store. You were saying something about it’s a little bit different. It’s about stuff that’s prepared and stuff that’s not prepared that you can get.

REGGIE: Anything like pizzas, or your roasted chicken that you would get at a Publix or something like that, you can’t get anything pre-cooked. But anything frozen or refrigerated that you make yourself, you can get those, and there's no limit to those. Whatever you’ve got, you can use on those things.

MATT: Let’s get into it a little bit too about how Feeding Northeast Florida works with SNAP.

REGGIE: Pretty much this is our new program. We just started it in February. And it’s us trying to expand as far as possible. We’re covering all eight of our counties, and we’re trying to literally see where we can help. I love this.

MATT: All right. So, we’ve got to plug it. Where can people go to get more details about SNAP and everything with Feeding Northeast Florida?

REGGIE: You go to FeedingNEFL.org.

MATT: Can’t get any easier than that. Reggie thanks for talking to me today. Again do what you can. If you would like to help and you would like to assist, everything can be found at FeedingNEFL.org.