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CHARITIES >> COMMUNITY FOOD
explained. “I didn’t realize we had childhood hunger here until I witnessed it firsthand. It’s not their fault, they’re just living in a sequence of unfortunate circumstances,” she said. During holidays and breaks, schools identify who would benefit from receiving boxes of food and are sent home with enough to last. Along with Alachua County Public Schools Foundation, the organization helped over 900 families last Christmas break. Over the summer, transportation to get boxes is an issue, so Food4Kids partners with local businesses around town who act as pick-up sites for monthly distribution, Moore said. The warehouse that helps restock each school pantry gathers resources from donations and food drives from community partners. It is run entirely by volunteers, including Rozeanne Smith, the coordinator for the warehouse who has been working with the program for six years and Robert Jenkins, a volunteer for over two years. Groups, organizations and individuals can sponsor food drives or volunteer to sort food and donations in the warehouse, Smith said. “There’s a lot of need and our community is very generous,” she said. “I really think it’s humbling to see the community come together for the same mission.”
Alan and Kathy Hitchcock Field and Fork Pantry About four years ago, a survey was sent out to University of Florida students in which 10 percent of respondents expressed some level of food insecurity and this past spring another survey revealed 31 percent of respondents expressed food insecurity, said Ambre Hobson, assistant director for student success. Food insecurity has four different aspects, which Hobson said can be summed up by the phrase “I cannot afford to buy enough healthy food for myself consistently.” The pantry was born out of a collaboration between different entities, including the Field and Fork Program and the UF Dean of Students Office to help address the problem of food insecurity on campus, Hobson said. The pantry opened in August of 2015 and is open to students and staff and requires no proof of need, just a UF ID. The facility is designed to feel welcoming and warm like a normal market with signage and shopping baskets as there can be a stigma associated with helping services, Hobson added. “We do our absolute best to remove obstacles between students and success and we believe 54 |
OUR TOWN MAGAZINE
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018