One in five children experiences hunger in Southwest Florida. About two-thirds of schoolchildren are either eligible for or receive free-or-reduced meals at school. We have two programs that provide supplemental food to help keep children and their families fed.
Child food-insecurity
rate:
20.4%
Total food-insecure children:
46,470
In-School Pantry Program
Hungry children can have a difficult time learning. They can suffer delays in development if they lack proper nutrition. Our In-School Pantry Program addresses child hunger by providing nutritious food to children and their families when they need it most, in convenient, familiar and safe locations. In-school pantries operate within the school, and enlist the school staff, students and others to distribute food to hungry families. These pantries not only feed students, they increase parents’ involvement in the academic lives of their children.
Harry’s Helpings
Harry’s Helpings is a program to help food-insecure families at sites where neither in-school pantries nor mobile pantries are available or feasible. Families receive food kits, or boxes, that contain a variety of nutritious, non-perishable foods. The kits provide 15 to 20 pounds of food and can be enough to prepare an average of 15 meals, serving entire families. They include canned vegetables and canned meat, cereal, spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, soups and stews, peanut butter, jelly, pasta, rice and beans.
For more information about these programs, call (239) 334-7007 or email childprograms@harrychapinfoodbank.org.
For information about sponsorship opportunities for these programs, call (239) 334-7007 or email giving@harrychapinfoodbank.org.