Second Harvest of the Big Bend has one of the biggest jobs in responding to Hurricane Idalia: getting food to people who are without it. The Big Bend took the hardest hits from this hurricane, and supplying the need for food is complex.
The impact extends from the Gulf Coast, where Idalia came ashore, to counties on the Georgia-Florida line. Second Harvest has been holding food distributions and learning the needs in each location. CEO Monique Ellsworth says their job is to respond to those needs as fast as possible.
“So that’s then doing certain distributions with ice and water and MREs, and as people’s electricity is coming on, then food that might require them to be able to cook. So, in some locations, we’ve been able to bring protein, like frozen meat for those communities as well. And there are some of our neighbors who still, so many days past the storm, still do not have electricity on.”
Ellsworth says the organization is working with local officials and emergency operations centers.
“So there have been lots of meetings and lots of phone calls so that we can pivot and adjust and pivot and adjust and pivot and adjust,” she said.
People can learn when food distributions are being held or how to volunteer or donate by visiting Second Harvest’s website or social media. Food distributions are being held Friday, September 8th at Greenville United Methodist Church and at North Florida College, both at 10 a.m.
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