In our community, thousands of neighbors struggle with food insecurity every day. Some of them may be strangers to you, but others could be your friends, your co-workers, or your children’s schoolmates. We are lucky to have local organizations that are passionate about bringing the issue of food insecurity to the surface and work to combat it.
One of our most vital partnerships is with Farm Share, a Florida-based food nonprofit that devotes its efforts to eliminating hunger throughout the state. Farm Share is actively helping our community grow strong, stable, and healthy through free food distributions, natural disaster relief, and large-scale events.
Few Florida organizations offer service and assistance at no cost to the recipient, as Farm Share does.
In the last year, Farm Share hosted multiple distributions for our community and served thousands of individuals.
The organization knows that hunger can strike any time with any family, so its distributions provide high-quality food to anyone in the community who seeks it. Farm Share’s work is truly impactful and provides security to many people struggling to make ends meet.
Farm Share also steps up for people in need in times of heartbreak and devastation. From natural disaster recovery to providing people living in food deserts with the only fresh produce they’ll have in a month, Farm Share is ready and willing to respond.
On May 9, Farm Share will once again partner with the National Association of Letter Carriers to facilitate the annual Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger food drive. Farm Share will redistribute the food collected through this event to those who need it most in our community.
During the week leading up to that Saturday collection, you will receive an empty bag in your mailbox that you can fill with nonperishable food items. Then on May 9, just leave the filled bag next to your mailbox to be picked up by letter carriers. This event is an easy but impactful way everyone can join in Farm Share’s efforts.
If you want to go a step further, volunteer to assist Farm Share with distributions, events, and in-house work. To learn more about volunteer opportunities, visit farmshare.org or email [email protected].
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Sen. Ed Hooper represents Senate District 16, which includes Clearwater and Largo in northern Pinellas County.