Second Harvest combats pandemic-related food struggles with Mercy Kitchen
During the pandemic, Second Harvest became the main source for hundreds of thousands of people to feed their families. The need we saw a year ago has not subsided.
Second Harvest mobilized when COVID-19 hit, putting into operation their newest weapon in the fight against hunger: Mercy Kitchen.
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Mercy Kitchen has been up and running for almost a year and has changed the way Second Harvest can combat pandemic-related food struggles Central Florida families are still facing.
“When we moved in the facility, we were producing a little over 25,000 meals a day. This facility offers us the ability to double or perhaps triple that,” Nancy Brumbaugh said.
Brumbaugh is the vice president of food services at Second Harvest Food Bank. She showed WESH 2 News all the ways Mercy Kitchen is making a difference.
When the pandemic hit, Brumbaugh’s team got creative to get families the food they could no longer afford themselves.
“We devised a seven-day box within a week and a family meal box within two weeks, and started looking for gaps in the community where children didn't have access to schools to get the food and where seniors and veterans might reside and not have the ability to get to the grocery stores,” Brumbaugh said. “I remember going out to a site and a little boy open the box and he squealed and he's like, 'Oh, it's all my favorites.' It was like a treasure chest.”
Inside that treasure chest: whole grain pop tarts, cereals, Nutrigrain bars, fruits and other goodies.
Mercy Kitchen is home to these programs helping them meet the need that lingers almost two years into the pandemic.
In the production kitchen, volunteers package fresh food into easy-serve containers that children will get through Second Harvest's Kids Cafe program.
Hot meals for children that their parents might be struggling to provide.
Mercy Kitchen's programs are also powered by volunteers that pack the boxes and plate meals.
“We have food scarcity in the country, obviously, and kids are hurt the worst. I have three children. I would be so upset if I didn't get hot, fresh meal every day,” Cathleen Hart said. “Luckily, I can provide that but not everybody can. It always makes me feel good knowing that they're getting good fresh, hot food.”