ORANGE CITY, Fla. — On Wednesday, hundreds lined up for hours in Orange City for one of the biggest food drops the area had ever seen.
What You Need To Know
- Several groups host food drop in Orange City
- Amid the pandemic, food insecurity is growing
- Dream Center said it will continue to do food drops
Second Harvest Food Bank teamed up with Daytona Dream Center, Backpack Buddies, and Payit4ward to give out over 30,000 pounds of food.
Many in line said they have been struggling since the pandemic and groceries give them one less thing to worry about. Organizers say they selected this area for the food drop, as many families in surrounding neighborhoods were already food insecure prior to the pandemic.
“Second Harvest, who we work very closely with, deemed this a food desert, which yes, it was already one before, it is even doubled now because so many people are not fully back to work," said Jaime Hartsgrove, Outreach Director of Daytona Dream Center.
DCC teamed up with @feedhopenow to give out 30,000 pounds of food at University High School. Enough to feed a family for 1-2 weeks @MyNews13 #News13Volusia pic.twitter.com/UwTG3yd2K6
— Nicole Griffin (@NicoleNews13) July 22, 2020
Organizers said they are seeing more and more people at every drop they do, meaning that the need is only increasing.
“Some people are a couple meals or a couple days away from going hungry or struggling," Hartsgrove said. "What we are also finding too is after you pay your rent, your car payment, all these things the food is usually the last thing that they have a small budget for, so it’s a great need”
The Daytona Dream Center says they are doing their best to keep up with demand. They are prepared to do these drops once or twice a month in different locations for the next year.
So far, they have done nine drops.
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