Hungry to help

After Hurricane Irma struck Sept. 10, Debbie May’s East County home near the Manatee River remained without power for a week.

And with shortages of food and supplies at local groceries stores, May was the first in line Sept. 18 at Renaissance on 9th, where The Food Bank of Manatee distributed food and water to about 500 people.

“This is so helpful,” May said. “It’s nice seeing people help other people. It has been so hard to find anything at the store. Shelves at grocery stores are still pretty empty, so we are here to get some food and water.”

On Sept. 18, in an effort to serve residents in the wake of Hurricane Irma, The Food Bank of Manatee, in coordination with Feeding Tampa Bay and Feeding America, distributed a truckload of food, water and supplies to families at its Renaissance on 9th facility. The building typically is used as  offices for its parent nonprofit, Meals on Wheels Plus of Manatee, and as a banquet and catering facility, but this week it’s been teeming with people.

A truck loaded with five pallets of water and seven pallets of shelf-stable, commercial food provided enough provisions to feed a thousand people for three days.

The Food Bank of Manatee is holding a post-hurricane collection drive through the end of September with 10 collection sites in East County.

“If you bought hurricane supplies you don’t need, there are so many people who still need them,” said Diana Dill, vice president of development for Meals on Wheels Plus. 

Food gathered at collection sites will go to the 120 food pantries and agencies that receive food from The Food Bank. 

Most needed are diapers, cleaning supplies and protein-heavy meals, such as peanut butter, tuna, Spam and ready-to-eat meals. Items that can be opened without can openers are best, Dill said.

The supplies will benefit individuals such as Bradenton’s Beverly Taylor, who picked up food at Renaissance on 9th. Taylor needed to restock her refrigerator because she had given all her food away before the hurricane.

“My family sent me to New Hampshire for my 71st birthday, so I gave all of my food away in case the storm hit and someone else needed it instead,” Taylor said. “So, when I came back after the storm, I had nothing to eat.”

After receiving food, Taylor said she felt relieved and grateful.

“This is wonderful,” Taylor said. “Whatever they have will be a blessing.”