Page 56 - May-June-July Life In Naples Magazine
P. 56
Harry Chapin
Food Bank
helps feed Collier County children during summer
S ummer is a time for family vacations,
backyard barbecues and long, lazy days
1 at the beach or pool.
But for Collier County children like six-
year-old Daniel summer is when they go
hungry because their one reliable source for a
meal—school—closes. More than 60 percent
of Collier County public school students
receive free or reduced-priced meals, which
provide them with the vital nutrition they
need to learn and succeed.
“When I eat lunch, it helps me with
school,” said Daniel, who misses breakfast at
home because his parents don’t earn enough
money to consistently put food on the table.
Summer is when the Harry Chapin Food 5
2 Bank is most needed, but it’s also when the
food bank is most challenged. Not only are
schools closed, but unemployment tends to
spike in the summer as seasonal jobs disappear and fresh, nutritious food is harder
to come by because the regional growing season ends.
“We call summer the triple threat,” said Al Brislain, the food bank’s president
and CEO.
The food bank serves about 30,000 people each month —12,000 of them
children – through a network of 150 partner agencies that operate pantries, after-
school programs, soup kitchens and other initiatives in Collier, Charlotte, Lee,
Hendry and Glades counties. Each month, this network feeds about 30,000
people, 40 percent of whom are children.
Collier County is one of Southwest Florida’s highest areas of need, Brislain
said. The food bank works with more than 25 Collier partner agencies, and
3 it operates a mobile pantry program funded by the Naples Children and
Education Foundation (NCEF), founders of the Naples Winter Wine Festival.
Last year, the food bank provided Collier County children, their families and
other residents in need with 3.1 million pounds of food, or almost 2.5 million
meals, from its warehouses in Naples and Fort Myers. This was a 19 percent
increase over 2013.
About one-third of the food provided to Collier residents last year was
fresh produce that was donated by local growers such as Lipman and Troyer
Brothers and farmers throughout the state. The food bank also receives some
fresh produce through donations by Publix Super Markets, Walmart, Target
and other retailers.
1. Jennifer, 9, smiles after she received food at a mobile pantry.
2. Christian stands in line with his mother at a mobile pantry in March. Forty percent of clients who receive
food through the Harry Chapin Food Bank are children.
3. Families make their way through a mobile pantry distribution.The Harry Chapin Food Bank began the
4 mobile pantry program with support from the Naples Children and Education Foundation (NCEF), founders
of the Naples Winter Wine Festival.
4. The Harry Chapin Food Bank provides clients with fresh produce that is donated by local, regional, state-
wide and national growers.
5. Alejandro and his family receive food from a pantry at Avalon Elementary School.
