Southeastern Food Bank provides food for families

The community volunteers started showing up before 4 p.m. Friday, ready for a brief rundown of instructions before getting their assignments. Some would separate food donations, others would set up food stations, and still others would pack the boxes to be delivered to the hungry in West Orange County.

Southeastern Food Bank hosted the 28th annual Food For Families project March 13 and 14, depending on hundreds of volunteers to make it a success. Held in recent years in Ocoee High School’s cafeteria, the program puts thousands of pounds of food and essentials into the hands of some of the area’s neediest residents.

Despite the decreased number of volunteers this year — 150 packers instead of an average of 450 and about 30 drivers instead of the usual 100 to 200 — more than 1,400 boxes still were packed and delivered to about 1,100 households, said Fran LeBrun-Silanskas, grant writer and manager of Southeastern Food Bank.

“We are fortunate to have a dedicated set-up team of volunteers headed up by Jason Walker of Jason Walker & Associates Inc.; a dedicated group of Disney VoluntEARS organized by Greg Rau of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products; a dedicated group of men led by Pastor Guy Iannello of Vine of Life Ministries and the Total Freedom program; along with some new volunteers from The Church of Christ of Latter-day Saints,” LeBrun-Silanskas said.

Families such as the Cushmans, of Ocoee, have made this a holiday tradition, too. Friday afternoon, Jessica Cushman and her daughter, Maliya, 7, were ready to do what was needed. This time, they were without the other half of the family, husband Stephen and son Micah, 9, who were home sick. This is their fourth year taking part in the spring project, typically held at Easter.

“This is something the whole family can participate in,” Jessica Cushman said. “It’s fun to do. We all get to participate, it’s fun, and it’s useful.”

Maliya said she likes volunteering because “I think it’s good to help other people.”

Because of the increase in volunteers through the years, a second shift was added, so residents can choose the afternoon or evening shift.

Apopka resident Carolina Perdomo and her daughter, Andrea Sifontes, 12, were first-time volunteers. Andrea was there to fulfill her community-service obligation for school, but her mother said the experience also is good for her.

Each delivery contained nonperishables, such as cereal and breakfast bars; canned meats, vegetables and fruit; pasta and pasta sauce, beans, tortillas, condiments, cooking oil, fruit juices, cookies and snack items.

Families also received bread and paper goods. Pepperidge Farms and Flowers Foods donated about 2,000 loaves of bread, and SFB distributed about 4,000 rolls of toilet paper and 2,000 rolls of paper towels.

A majority of the donations comes from Publix Super Markets, which provides food, items such as diapers and sometimes water-softener pellets. What SFB can’t use is rerouted to appropriate organizations around the state.

“You need food, but we don’t know if you need diapers or not,” said Mark Anthony, founder of SFB.

PROVIDING NECESSITIES

Tens of thousands of households struggling to make ends meet usually cut back on food, according to the Southeastern Food Bank website.

“But it comes at a steep price,” the website states. “For children, hunger impacts the ability to learn. For adults, the ability to work. For seniors, the ability to manage illness and maintain health.”

Southeastern Food Bank is a Christian-based ministry and a 501©3 organization in Ocoee. Food and wares are available cost-free to people — including low-income households, shelters, after-school programs, food pantries, children’s homes, and senior citizen organizations — in 26 Florida counties. Annually, SFB distributes about 5 million pounds of free food and goods.

Anthony got the idea of creating the nonprofit food bank at his lawnmower shop in 1989 when a customer who delivered Entenmann’s snacks had a surplus of food and offered Anthony hundreds of boxes of cakes, doughnuts and cookies. He distributed the treats in a needy neighborhood, and he said he was led to feed and minister to the hungry after seeing the look of joy on the residents’ faces.

He started Bread of Life Fellowship in his garage, collecting and handing out food to those in need. It ultimately moved to a warehouse in Ocoee with a new name: Southeastern Food Bank.

The Food For Families program began 28 years ago when Johnny Dyal asked his employer, Publix Super Markets, if he could donate the store’s leftover holiday snacks to families in need. Anthony was one of the original volunteers, and eventually SFB assumed the responsibility of the project, which grew from snacks to meals.

Families are located through Orange County Public Schools, Anthony said.

“We’ve done it for so many years, we keep track of low-income families in Ocoee, Apopka and Winter Garden, Pine Hills,” he said. “We’ve done MetroWest, some Kissimmee; we go to the mobile homes and apartments.”

Anthony relies on his employees and a field of volunteers to make Food For Families happen three times a year — at Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

He realizes concerns about the coronavirus probably kept many of his regular volunteers away, and he said he is grateful for the ones who did come to help.

“It was the dedication of a few people, is what it comes down to,” Anthony said. “That’s the most important message.”

Volunteers from Total Freedom, a Christian rehabilitation program in Ocoee, unloaded the semis, built the boxes and helped fill them with food.

“I’m very thankful for them, because I couldn’t do it alone,” Anthony said.

SFB secures donations from national food and grocery manufacturers, retailers, shippers, packers and growers, government agencies, and other organizations.
It accepts donations of shelf-stable, fresh and frozen food, and non-food items such as paper goods, personal hygiene products and cleaning supplies. Companies donate for a variety of reasons, including production flaws, overproduction, mislabeling, packaging changes and unharvested or imperfect produce.

“I appreciate Publix for giving to the community like they have and for the school system … allowing us to use their facility and people working together,” Anthony said.

For information about Southeastern Food Bank, call (407) 654-7777 or visit southeasternfoodbank.com.