CAPE CORAL, Fla. — With cars, trucks and minivans lining up at Island Coast High School for the latest mobile food pantry, also a reminder of the need to address hunger issues throughout Southwest Florida.
The last day of class for Lee County schools is next week, Wednesday, June 7. With a district more at more than 100,000 students, this means hundreds of thousands of meals won’t get served inside of school buildings for the following ten weeks.
The group, Feeding America, reports that 1 in 8 children are “at risk” for hunger, with the USDA reporting that 22 percent of Black children and more than 18 percent of Latino children are food insecure.
In Florida, that is even more concerning, with estimates that 1 in 7 children face hunger. A study from No Kid Hungry Florida looked at the impacts of inflation and housing costs, with more than 75 percent of people in a study saying it is more difficult to buy food in January 2023 than the previous year.
Stefanie Ink-Edwards, chief executive officer at Community Cooperative in Fort Myers, said the ratio in our region is about 1 in 6 children who face food insecurity.
"Southwest Florida is really a big place," notes Ink-Edwards. "As an organization, we want to ensure we're meeting clients where they are. Whether they have a vehicle, maybe they do, maybe they don't. To get to our main location in downtown Fort Myers, it can be really difficult. We decided, as a philosophy, to load up services and take, not only food, but social services and additional services out into the community."
Add in the experience all of us faced last fall when Hurricane Ian hit Southwest Florida. The storm displaced thousands of families, especially in the coastal parts of Lee and Charlotte Counties.
Thursday’s event at Island Coast High School is part of Community Cooperative’s mission to reach as many corners of Lee County as possible with its mobile food pantries. Schools, libraries, veterans’ centers, churches and even parks and libraries all on the list to reach people.
We met one volunteer, Kayla Hauser, a finance major at FGCU, who told us this was part of a college project.
"My group project is to end hunger," said Hauser. "That's our goal. To do this, in my own community, at the school I teach at is awesome. We're serving our students, our families. The students in my classrooms have the ability to come here and get food from here."
The distribution event on June 1 at Island Coast was set for 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. A few raindrops popped on the tent in the parking lot. Watch for a shift in time for these events for summer.
"Our biggest challenge is going to be our weather and may of our food pantries will move to the morning," said Ink-Edwards. "That way, they don't get rained out. We don't want anybody to be outside with inclement weather."
Ink-Edwards added that, for each event, about four or five staff members handle the loading and unloading with up to 20 volunteers who give of their time to help with these food pantries.
"We have a couple of thousand of volunteers who give their time and their talent to Community Cooperative throughout the year," said Ink-Edwards. "I, personally, would love to put ourselves, as an organization, out of business and not have a community that is suffering with food insecurity. But, ultimately, that is part of where we are. Life is hard and I'm grateful that our volunteers and our organization can be there for people."
Mobile food pantries from Community Cooperative for Lee County for June:
Tuesday, June 6, CAPE CORAL: Trafalgar Middle School, 4:30 to 6:00 p.m.
Wednesday, June 7, CAPE CORAL: VA Healthcare Center, 2489 Diplomat Parkway E, 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. For veterans/families only.
Friday, June 9, NORTH FORT MYERS: North Fort Myers Regional Park, 2000 N. Recreation Park Way, 10:00 a.m. to noon
Tuesday, June 13, BONITA SPRINGS: Literacy Council Gulf Coast, 26820 S. Tamiami Trail, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
Wednesday, June 14, CAPE CORAL: Caffereta Elementary School, 10 a.m. to noon
Thursday, June 15, LEHIGH ACRES: Lehigh Senior High School, 10 a.m. to noon
Friday, June 16, PINE ISLAND, Pine Island United Methodist Church, 5701 Pine Island Road, 10 to 11:30 a.m.
Tuesday, June 20, FORT MYERS, Pine Manor Community Center, 5547 Tenth Avenue, 10 a.m. to noon
Wednesday, June 21, CAPE CORAL, VA Healthcare Center, 2489 Diplomat Parkway E, 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. For veterans/families only.
Thursday, June 22, CAPE CORAL, Island Coast High School, 10 a.m. to noon
Tuesday, June 27, LEHIGH ACRES, Veterans Park, 55 Homestead Road South, 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Wednesday, June 28, NORTH FORT MYERS, North Fort Myers High School, 10 a.m. to noon.
