During the Thanksgiving break from school, students miss up to 10 meals that they otherwise would have had access to while in school. Since 2011, Food For Thought has helped bridge that gap by providing holiday services to local families in need. 2020 was, as expected, a record year.
Food For Thought served more than 640 families across five locations in just five hours. More than 1,300 bags of food containing 30,000 food items and nearly 600 turkeys were distributed to help support families during the holiday season. “This year has really highlighted the issues surrounding food insecurity in our communities,” says Tiffanie Nelson, Founder & CEO of Food For Thought. “1 in 3 kids don’t know where their next meal will come from. In 2019, that number was closer to 1 in 5. Families can’t keep enough food on the table. We are seeing record numbers of families needing our assistance, and in many cases, for the very first time.”
Since March, families have been receiving curbside food distributions, each vehicle receiving 30 to 50 full size food items, often including fresh produce, in order to prepare full meals for the entire family. Food For Thought is currently serving 500-600 families a month while staff and volunteers are strictly adhering to safety guidelines including wearing face masks, social distancing, increased sanitizing and cleaning procedures in the pantries, and less than 10 volunteers working together at any one time.
“In a way, our holiday services from past years helped us transition more effectively into curbside distributions since the pandemic started,” adds Nelson. “We have those systems in place for these larger services, and we have built off of that framework. We served nearly 40% more families than last year, and we expect the same at our Christmas services.”
To support Food For Thought they have a few ways to help during the holiday season.
You can Sponsor a Family. $40 feeds one family in need. Donors can text FFTHOLIDAY to 44321 to give or visit fftfl.org to donate online.
If you are interested in donating food items, Food For Thought is hosting their Stock the Sleigh Food Drive from December 2nd through December 14th. Desired food for the collection includes instant potatoes, stuffing, cornbread mix, canned veggies, rice, dry beans, mac n cheese, pasta sauce, cereal, pancake mix, juice, and boxed milk. Donations will be accepted December 11th & 14th from 8:30-4pm at Food For Thought’s Destin and Santa Rosa Beach Pantries. If you or someone you know is in need of support from Food For Thought, you can get information about food distribution the following ways: text FOOD to 474747, email support@fftfl.org, or call 850-714-1960.
Author: SWal Life
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