Hundreds of cars pulled up to The Rock Church in Kissimmee to pick up a week and a half’s worth of food. Many of the families were laid off or furloughed theme park workers.
Volunteers put two boxes of food in the trunk of each car during the contactless event, one of perishable and another of nonperishable items.
Jennifer Andre and her grandmother were the first car in line. She said they had been waiting since 3:30 am, sleeping until the noon drop off time.
She said both she and her husband were laid off after the pandemic and they rely on the donations to feed their family of six and other relatives.
“Ah yeah, I know everything’s going to get back to normal like we were before. But you just got to pray to God you know. He’s the only one who knows what can go next.”
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Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida's storyteller Erika Spence said donations were made possible by the USDA’s Farmers to Families Food Box program and a 60,000 dollar donation from readers of the Disney Tourist Blog.
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Photo: Danielle Prieur[/caption]
“The owners and creators of that blog started a virtual food drive on Second Harvest’s website where they asked their readers and supporters really across the country that love to vacation in Orlando to support the workers who have been affected by layoffs and furloughs."
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The event was one time only, but the church runs a food pantry for those in need. To find the food bank closest to you, click on the link.
If you'd like to listen to this story, click on the clips above.
