Second Harvest of the Big Bend

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been helping Second Harvest for years

The food bank is trying to help the region recover from Hurricane Idalia, even as a major employer shuts down

Second Harvest of the Big Bend is planning to add on to their existing building.

The needs across the 11 counties of the Big Bend are varied and complex

The community's response was a message of inclusion.

This was a different direction for the "Full Summer" effort to compensate for the lack of school-provided nutrition for low-income families when classes aren't in session.

Elementary school children learned the basics of better nutrition by preparing simple recipes themselves.

The money will be used to expand and improve the organization's food distribution in its 16-county serving area.

Volunteers load boxes of food -- supplied by Second Harvest, Farm Share, Publix and others -- into a line of vehicles that come to Victory House every other Saturday

The network of food banks has entered into a contract with the state Department of Children and Families to do Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) education, teaching people to cook and store the food they're getting.