PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — You can help make a difference in the community and make sure no child goes hungry this school year.
The Palm Beach County Food Bank is hosting its first ever back-to-school food drive to help put food on the table for Palm Beach County kids.
"The need is still great in our community, so we work every day with over 200 partner agencies to get food out into the community for those folks who need food assistance," Food Bank CEO Jamie Kendall said.
Kendall says during the pandemic, the demand for food tripled.
The food drive runs from July 23 to August 6, kicking off with a drive-through drop-off event today at the Food Bank's Lake Worth Beach warehouse located at 701 Boutwell Road, suite A-2 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The theme of the event is "One Can, Two Can, Who Can? You Can!" The Palm Beach County Food Bank procures food from grocery stores, farmers, food distributors, wholesalers and other sources and provides it to almost 200 local community partners, including food pantries, soup kitchens and residential housing programs.
As part of its focus on ending childhood hunger, the Food Bank operates several Food 4 Kids programs in Palm Beach County Schools. Palm Beach County operates the 10th largest school district in the U.S., with more than 60 percent of school-age children eligible for free or reduced-price meals. The Food 4 Kids program is designed to help these students and their families fill nutritional gaps when they leave the classroom for the weekend or school vacations.
They are specifically looking for non-perishable protein items for this drive. Items like peanut butter and other nut butters, canned tuna and chicken, beans, nuts, and more.
"We will be working with a lot more schools this year, we are really expanding that program so the food, those protein products are needed now more than ever," Kendall said. "The protein products are really important to us, when we have to purchase those products they cost a little more so we're really looking to hopefully get in a lot of those products."