For 18 years, Meals of Hope has been committed to its mission of inspiring and empowering communities to come together to end hunger—striving toward its vision for all people to be food secure. Meals of Hope has positioned itself as a leading authority on local hunger by taking a multi-pronged approach to creating food security. Its three feeding programs include meal packing events, mobile and choice food pantries, and an Out of School Feeding initiative. Through these core programs, Meals of Hope feeds thousands of children, adults and seniors annually—telling a story of local hunger.
“Feeding people is what we do best,” says President & CEO, Stephen Popper. Since 2007, volunteers have packed a whopping 120 million fortified meals! Once packed, the eight varieties of meals are donated to local Feeding America food banks and pantries across the U.S. for distribution to hungry families. Of those meals, 2 million are distributed locally each year through its feeding programs and local food banks. This includes a remarkable 855,000 meals packed by students in Collier County last year!
Meals of Hope’s 15 mobile and choice pantry locations also share the trend by feeding over 70,000 adults, children and seniors in Collier and Lee Counties annually. Fresh produce; dairy products; frozen meats and vegetables; eggs and canned protein; specialty baby food, formula and baby items (at three locations); food staples like potatoes, pasta and rice; and other necessities like diapers, feminine hygiene supplies and adult incontinence products are distributed at no cost to visiting families. What’s more, over 100,000 packs of weekend food are placed in the backpacks of hundreds of local at-risk students in public schools annually.
“We are confident in our ability to feed our neighbors, especially given our recent move to an 18,000 sq ft building on Mercantile Avenue in Naples. Southwest Florida is very philanthropic, but we are depending on our community partners more than ever to support our mission,” says Popper. As Meals of Hope approaches its 20th Anniversary, they’ve embarked on a four-year Hunger to Hope Capital Campaign to raise $4.5 million to support its new state of the art feeding hub along with program operations, bulk food purchases and securing its future.
To learn more about its mobile and choice food pantry locations, volunteering, hosting a packing event, or the Hunger to Hope Capital Campaign please visit www.mealsofhope.org or email steve@mealsofhope.org.