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Highlands Today

Fund Drive To Launch Food Bank Kicks Off At Fair

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By JIM KONKOLY

Highlands Today

Published: January 26, 2009

SEBRING - Parkway Food Ministries in Sebring was providing food to about 50 families a month when it opened in October 2007. With the recession hitting people harder, the ministry now gives food to 300 families monthly.

At Church Service Center in Avon Park, between 15 to 20 families came for food each week a year ago. That number has now jumped to about 45 a week.

And Major Mary Holmes of the Salvation Army reports that its food distribution has nearly doubled over the past year.

"The needs of the people are growing, and we - all of the food pantries in the county - need to stretch our dollars farther," said Bill Stephenson, the volunteer director of Church Service Center.

Stephenson said the answer to meeting the growing need is launching a local food bank to supply the food pantries at an extremely low cost. For more than a year, the non-profit Heartland Food Reservoir Inc. has been working toward that goal. .

On Friday, the group launched its first major fund-raiser with a raffle booth at the Highlands County Fair. Lykes Brothers Ranch donated the prizes, a quarter-side of beef going to each of four winners. Following the fair, tickets, at $2 each or three for $5, will be sold around the county until the drawing on Feb. 20.

Typically, a food bank leverages $1 in donations into about $12 worth of food, according to the Florida Association of Food Banks.

A local food bank could become a reality this year if the beef raffle reaches its goal, said Stephenson, who also serves as chairman of Heartland Food Reservoir.

"If we could raise $7,000, we could have a food bank up and running in 90 days, if everything else falls into place," he said.

A food bank is a central collection and storage point for food donations, which are distributed to the food pantries that serve needy people, said Mary Foy, director of the Highlands County Department of Human Services and vice chairman of the all-volunteer Heartland Food Reservoir.

To cover the food bank's costs, food pantries would pay about 18 cents per pound for all types of food, far below their normal costs, Foy said.

"It would hopefully attract a lot of food donations from vendors, from the producers to the distributors and the grocery store chains," she said.

"Particularly in this economy," Foy added, "the need (for a food bank) is huge. We hear from our pantries that the food is flying off the shelves as fast as they can stock it."

America's Second Harvest of Tampa Bay, a food bank that has distributed more than 90 million pounds of food over the past 26 years, has tentatively agreed to lend its expertise for the operation of a food bank here, Stephenson said.

"They have agreed to work contractually with us to be their arm in Highlands County," he said. "We would be professionally trained by them to run this food bank . . . and we could tap into an untold supply of food."

Marlene Christiansen, executive director of Manna Ministries in Lake Placid, said a local food bank would stretch its donated dollars from more than 20 churches and individual contributors.

Manna Ministries buys much of its food from the Agape Food Bank, run by Catholic Charities, in Lakeland, paying 18 cents per pound. With a local food bank, Christiansen said, the all-volunteer operation would save considerably by cutting out the frequent trips to Lakeland.

"The less we spend on transportation, the more money there is to go directly into serving the needs of people," she said.

Church Service Center is one of several local food pantries that have bought food at 18 cents per pound from America's Second Harvest of Tampa Bay. A local food bank would eliminate the trips to Tampa and leave more resources to feed the needy, Stephenson said.

Contributions over the past year from businesses, service clubs and individual donors total about $10,000 to launch a food bank, Stephenson said. Heartland food Reservoir also has commitments for donation of a truck and a lift truck, and has been talking with several businesses about providing warehouse space.

"Right now we have enough people in line, waiting to be volunteers, if we can get it open and running," he said.

Highlands Today reporter Jim Konkoly can be reached at 863-386-5855 or e-mail jkonkoly@highlandstoday.com

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