Harry Chapin brings mobile food pantry to Fort Myers Beach
As he filled up bags with bread, Larry Wood noticed something.
Most of the people he was giving food to were wearing uniforms from local restaurants, hotels and bars.
“If people aren’t coming in, there’s no money coming in,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of local workers. That’s what this is about.”
When a local economy dependent on tourists has no tourists, it means employees get let go, shifts get cut and no tips are coming in. South Florida’s water quality issues are hitting Fort Myers Beach where it’s most vulnerable.
The Harry Chapin Food Bank of Southwest Florida drove its mobile food bank to Fort Myers Beach Friday. The truck’s doors opened from 10 a.m.to noon at 1510 Estero Boulevard, filling bags with food items for anyone who showed up. Volunteers from the community came to help out.
Scott Safford, co-owner of the Sea Gypsy Inn, volunteered for the morning. He said the experience was sobering.
“I’m handing out food to friends,” he said.
More than 80 people trickled through the food truck line, getting items like bread, peanut butter and fresh tomatoes.
Richard LeBer, Harry Chapin President and CEO, said the food bank has been keeping an eye on the economical impact of the water quality issues for a while. Last week, the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce’s economical impact study found that the estimated average of lost wages in a week, island-wide, was $560,000.
“A lot of people lose work and pay,” LeBer said. “Emergency response is part of what we do.”
He said one woman, a waitress, told him she had made $8 total on Thursday at her job.
“You can’t live on that,” he said. “We know they’re struggling.”
When faced with economical strife, the first thing people do is review their budgets, LeBer said. And often, buying food is one of the expenses that gets culled quickly. And it’s a bad situation- bad for physical and mental health, and bad for families with children who need to eat, too.
“You have to pay rent, but you can stop buying food,” he said. “We hate to see that.”
The food bank partnered up with the Chamber of Commerce to start hosting the food pantry. Joe Orlandini, the property owner, donated the parking lot for the food bank to use.
Last week was on Friday, but beginning this week on Aug. 29, the food pantry will visit the beach at that location every Wednesday from 10 a.m. to noon, and will conintue until there is no longer a community need. The food is all donated from local collections as well as direct donations from grocery stores like Publix, Costco and Winn-Dixie, LeBer said.
District 3 Lee County Commissioner Larry Kiker and his executive assistant, Charlotte Comie, made the trek to the beach to volunteer their time Friday. Kiker said the experience was “surprisingly inspirational.”
“People are so grateful, and the volunteers are fantastic,” he said.
Chamber President Jacki Liszak said she was glad to see that those people who needed help were getting it. From an outside perspective, people may not think of a island community needing assistance, but they’re forgetting about the people behind the scenes – those that serve the island’s restaurants, bars, hotels and stores. She said she’d seen a lot of people in line who work in the watersports industry, too.
“I’m overjoyed that we’re meeting a need in our community,” she said. “I’m happy we could help facilitate this.”