SATISFY THE HUNGER

Partnerships feed hungry with monthly food distribution at East Naples Middle

Shelby Reynolds
shelby.reynolds@naplesnews.com; 239-263-4829

Editor's note:

 This is the fifth in a series of weekly stories this month highlighting the need to Satisfy The Hunger, a Naples Daily News initiative. In its second year, the campaign collects food donations and raises money and awareness about hunger in Southwest Florida.

Sebastian Martinez, 11, dashed around the East Naples Middle School cafeteria Thursday evening.

Selena Romero, 14, from left; Juliana Heras, 13; Valeria Zeballos, 13; and Ricardo Torres, 13, work together to pack bags with food during a food distribution on Thursday, April 20, 2017, at East Naples Middle School in East Naples. The Collier Harvest Foundation hosts the event every third Thursday of the month. The agency distributes groceries to 50 families, coinciding with the school's Title 1 parent meetings.

At a frenzied pace, he heaved bags of potatoes, unloaded packs of applesauce, and stuffed paper bags with rice, pasta and enough groceries to feed 50 families for about three weeks. Sebastian and a handful of other volunteers raced to finish their work before an in-service meeting let out and the students' families paraded down the hallway to get their bags.

More: Hospitalization, health needs eat into food budget

"It's so helpful," said Milena Manero, Sebastian's mother, as she met her son with the bags of food. "We have been here a year (from Cuba). It’s hard. It’s hard for us because we had to learn a lot of things."

It was the eighth food distribution this school year at East Naples Middle School, a Title I school where 79 percent of students are on a free or reduced lunch program. This was the first year of the program, which organizers hope to grow next year.

"Since we’ve started, now we have to continue, because it’s a responsibility," said Connie Preu, executive director of Collier Harvest Foundation. "And the need is much greater than people realize."

Collier Harvest, which aims to provide healthy meals for hungry residents in Collier and south Lee counties, organizes the food distribution each month using donations from five local businesses: Rick Johnson Auto and Tire, Fish Crazy Restaurant & Seafood Market, IRMS insurance agency, Castle & Shores Gulf Breeze Real Estate and Moe's Southwest Grill.

More: Meals of Hope helps those in need, empowers volunteers

The idea, though, started with Moe's.

Dawn Silverman and her husband, Mike, own the two Moe's Southwest Grill locations in Naples, and they often get calls from schools and teachers asking for donations. Silverman heard firsthand from teachers at East Naples Middle School how hunger affects their students each day.

"I just thought I should do something," Silverman recalled.

She reached out to local businesses, asking for a $200 donation each month, until she got $1,000 to spend on groceries. She partnered with Collier Harvest, and Publix offered buy-one-get-one free on all items, bringing the total to $2,000 worth of groceries each month.

"Working together we’ve created a really quality service for our families and our community," East Naples Middle School principal Darren Burkett said.

Fifty families receive two bags, each one containing about five meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. On Thursday they received three bags to cover the months of April and May.

The timing of the distribution — usually on the third Thursday of the month — coincides with an educational meeting for the families of students, covering topics like drug prevention, English language acquisition and best practices for preparing students for middle school.

It also coincides with the time of the month when other financial support, like food stamps, starts to wear thin.

"The second half of the month, it can be difficult for family’s needs," Burkett said. "The first of the month they get the support. By the third part of the month things are getting tight."

Organizers hope to continue with the distribution next school year starting in September and add another Title I middle school if more businesses get involved.

More: Marco Island church feeds families in need with its 'Our Daily Bread' food pantry

On Thursday, Melody Klein, of Castle & Shores Gulf Breeze Real Estate, helped organize food and direct families to their bags.

"I’m a firm believer in taking care of where you are," she said. "Everyone talks about politics and what’s going on around the nation and the world and everything, but if we don’t take care of our own here, it doesn’t matter anyway.

Dawn Silverman works with other volunteers to bring  donated food inside during a food distribution on Thursday, April 20, 2017, at East Naples Middle School in East Naples. The Collier Harvest Foundation hosts the event every third Thursday of the month. The agency distributes groceries to 50 families, coiciding with the school's Title 1 parent meetings.

"The one thing that bothers me about where we live is there’s so much money here, we shouldn’t have hungry families, but we do. So you do whatever you can to help that situation. If you can, you do, that’s my motto. If I can, I do."

Collier Harvest will also benefit from the Naples Daily News' Satisfy the Hunger food drive, an initiative that aims to provide food and household goods for families over the summer.

Last year’s drive raised $31,286 in donations, with matching funds of the same amount, bringing the total to nearly $63,000. The drive also collected 5,000 pounds of donated food.

This year’s goal is to collect $90,000 and 8,000 pounds of food. The community drive will be held every Friday through April 28.

If you go

Satisfy the Hunger "School's Out for Summer" drive

When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, April 28

Where: Naples Daily News, 1100 Immokalee Road, North Naples

​​Get more information at naplesnews.com/satisfy.​

Jeison Diaz takes a bag of food during a distribution on Thursday, April 20, 2017, at East Naples Middle School in East Naples. The Collier Harvest Foundation hosts the event every third Thursday of the month. The agency distributes groceries to 50 families, coinciding with the school's Title 1 parent meetings.