One in 12 seniors in Southwest Florida experiences food insecurity. That number is a result of many factors that include inflation, expensive housing in the region, and aging-related medical expenses.
Harry Chapin Food Bank’s Care and Share senior feeding program seeks to alleviate these economic pressures by giving seniors free monthly meal kits.
The nonprofit piloted the initiative in 2017 to help Florida’s participation in a U.S. Department of Agriculture senior hunger initiative. Eight years later, 2,600 southwest Florida seniors receive food by way of Care and Share each month.
Richard LeBer, president and CEO of Harry Chapin Food Bank, says he’s noticed some seniors sacrificing other necessities for food.
“If you’re cutting your blood pressure pills in half or you’re not eating, neither one of those outcomes is good,” LeBer said. “
Volunteers meet at Harry Chapin’s meal kit assembly line every Tuesday to assemble the boxes of food for Care and Share distributions. The boxes are sent out to various community partners to be given out to those on the confirmed list of qualifiers.
According to LeBer, information about the program is spread mostly by word of mouth.
“They hear about us from their friends, they hear about it from the senior living center that they're living in, they hear it from their church,” LeBer said. “Our community is connected and we use that to our advantage.”
Harry Chapin spreads its Care and Share sites across Charlotte, Lee, and Collier counties. Stephanie Hall of Punta Gorda receives a box at her church. She’s been moved by the impact of the program despite being a recipient for only a month so far.
“It’s just appreciation that someone cares. I’m a caregiver for my 93-year-old mother. I’ve been with her for 10 years. It definitely helps!”Stephanie Hall, Punta Gorda, program recipient
“It’s just appreciation that someone cares,” Hall said. “I’m a caregiver for my 93-year-old mother. I’ve been with her for 10 years. It definitely helps!”
Occasionally, the kits include proteins and fresh vegetables in addition to grains and other nonperishables. It helps seniors, who are often struggling with their health, maintain a balanced diet in the face of financial hardship. Care and Share recipient Nathalie Montgomery says it saves her and her husband a trip to the grocery store.
“Right now, I’m on sick leave. I had surgery and I’m not working,” Montgomery said. “We get cans of salmon, oatmeal, rice, and canned vegetables.”
According to LeBer, the number of seniors battling food insecurity has increased in recent years, especially following Hurricane Ian and the pandemic. The Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation offered Harry Chapin a $350,000 matching grant for Care and Share this year. LeBer has problems he’d like to solve with the funding, including a program wait list several hundred people long.
“We're always looking around the community to say, are we being convenient? It doesn't do you any good if you're hungry in Cape Coral today, and I tell you that I can feed you next week in Lehigh Acres,” LeBer said.
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