SOUTHWEST, Fla. – Food distribution sites have been more critical than ever in our area, especially since people haven’t been getting federal unemployment checks.
The site at Mount Olive AME Church in Fort Myers fed 788 families Thursday at its weekly event, according to St. Matthew’s House spokesperson Bob Irzyk.
“We see there’s a great need for the community,” said Pastor James Givens. “The more food we have, the more families we can feed.”
St. Matthew’s House, along with Midwest Food Bank and Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, help the church put on the event each week during the pandemic.
“We give until either the line’s gone or the food is, and, unfortunately, the lines have been longer than the food has been recently,” said St. Matthew’s House president and CEO Vann Ellison.
That wasn’t the case Thursday. The event ended 45 minutes early because people in need stopped showing up, although some showed up as much as two hours before it started to make sure they got what they needed.
Another food distribution site in Charlotte County was put on by the county’s Emergency Operations and Harry Chapin Food Bank. Volunteers at the site on Harold Avenue in Punta Gorda also fed hundreds of families Thursday morning.
The site at Mount Olive AME Church in Fort Myers is open every Thursday from 4 p.m. -7 p.m., or until they run out of food. The Harold Avenue site in Charlotte County is open every other Thursday from 10 a.m. to noon.
