200 million pounds of food: Harry Chapin Food Bankcelebrates success

Andrew Atkins, Naples Daily News Published 6:21 p.m. ET Nov. 27, 2018 | Updated 7:59 p.m. ET Nov. 27, 2018

To celebrate the distribution of its 200 millionth pound of food, the Harry Chapin Food Bank held twocelebratory mobile food pantries Tuesday.

The food bank stationed the pantries at Franklin Park Elementary in Fort Myers and East Naples CommunityPark. Volunteers and staff from the food bank worked at the pantries to celebrate the nonprofit’s success.

Madeline Paniagua, an administrative assistant at the Harry Chapin Food Bank, said she’s humbled in her workdaily.

“You never know what life is going to bring,” she said.

The organization, which started in 1983, distributed its 100 millionth pound of food three decades later in 2014. Now, four years later, the food bank hasdistributed another 100 million pounds of food.

More than 100 people gather at East Naples Community Park on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018, for the Harry Chapin Mobile Food Pantry produce distribution. (Photo: SrijitaChattopadhyay/Naples Daily News)

Photos: Harry Chapin MobilePhotos: Harry Chapin MobileFood PantryFood Pantry

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(Photo: SrijitaChattopadhyay/Naples Daily News)

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More: Harry Chapin Food Bank prepares truck full of food for Panhandle residents (/story/weather/hurricanes/2018/10/10/harry-chapin-food-bank-hurricane-michael-florida-panhandle/1591739002/)

The increase and the success of the food banks, according to Development Director Miriam Pereira, comes largely through the generosity of thecommunity.

“It takes resources to be able to feed our neighbors in need,” she said.

Those resources include approximately 170 partner agencies in the five counties the food bank covers: Collier, Lee, Charlotte, Hendry and Glades.

Mary Wozniak, marketing and communications manager with the Harry Chapin Food Bank, attributed the explosive growth in the amount of fooddistributed partially to increased costs of living, population growth, underemployment and other causes in tandem with an increased capacity to servepeople through the food bank’s growth.

The food bank attracted more than 100 people to the East Naples park to retrieve items like sweet peppers, peanut butter, meats and bread — a mix offresh produce and shelf-stable options. The line snaked through the grass near where the truck was parked by a baseball field.

More: With Giving Tuesday around the corner, here's where you can donate and get more info (/story/news/local/2018/11/26/giving-tuesday-around-corner-naples-florida/2094508002/)

Volunteer Isabel Garland arranges jars of creamy peanut butter for the Harry Chapin Mobile Food Pantry distribution moments before the start of the giveaway at EastNaples Community Park on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018. (Photo: Srijita Chattopadhyay/Naples Daily News)

Gordon Caie said Tuesday marked his third time getting food from the food pantry. He’s starting a new job, he said, and between paying his bills andfeeding himself, “it helps ends meet.”

He shared his gratitude for the volunteers and the food bank with other attendees.

“They’re always helpful,” he said. “Thank God it’s here.”

It’s that kind of gratitude that makes it worth it for volunteer Ruth Anderson-Zabre, who said she loves being part of the experience.

“People are so happy to get the food and so appreciative,” she said.

Anderson-Zabre said she gets disheartened by so much of what she sees as unnoticed poverty in Naples.

“That’s why it feels good to be here,” she said.

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Anna Suarez, the Harry Chapin Food Bank director of human resources and administration, gets ready to place cans of sliced peaches into a client's bag at East NaplesCommunity Park on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018, for the Harry Chapin Mobile Food Pantry distribution. (Photo: Srijita Chattopadhyay/Naples Daily News)

More: Harry Chapin Food Bank opens large warehouse in East Naples (/story/news/local/2018/02/07/harry-chapin-food-bank-opens-new-warehouse-naples-meet-community-hunger-demand/306910002/)

The mobile food pantry in Naples carried nearly 4,000 pounds of food — which is about on par with the average 4,000-6,000 pounds of food Pereira saidthe trucks can carry. The decision to have the event on Giving Tuesday was deliberate, too.

“With Giving Tuesday marking the beginning of the giving season, in our mind, it made sense to mark the day and kind of remind people that there arepeople in our community who still need help, who are still struggling to put food on the table for themselves and their families,” Pereira said.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

If the trucks run out of food, which rarely occurs, Wozniak said, they have to turn people away. In that event, the organization provides them with otherresources for help or tells them when the next food truck will come.

At the East Naples mobile food pantry, people seemed happy to get the food. While volunteers and staff handed out food, the clients returned smiles.

Without the food bank, Diane Borowski said, she’d probably go hungry with her fixed income.

“God bless them. They do an amazing job,” Borowski said. “I’m just thankful.”

More: Face of Harry Chapin Food Bank retires after 24 years (/story/news/local/2017/07/04/face-harry-chapin-food-bank-retires-after-24-years/448234001/)

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