Doc Ford’s employees volunteer at Gladiolus Food Pantry

Team members from the Fort Myers Beach Doc Ford’s Rum Bar & Grille spent a recent afternoon volunteering at the Gladiolus Food Pantry. Employees loaded clients’ cars, shucked corn and bagged it.

“Our team was happy to help out and support the pantry’s mission of reducing hunger by providing healthy nutritious food,” said Ryan Cook, general manager of the Fort Myers Beach Doc Ford’s Rum Bar & Grille. “This is the second time we’ve partnered with the pantry, donating our time and our energy to impact the community in a meaningful way.”

The Gladiolus Food Pantry reached 28,256 individuals and provided more than one million pounds of food last year. The nonprofit organization has relied completely on volunteer support, food and financial donations since its founding in 2013 and receives contributions from the Harry Chapin Food Bank and the Midwest Food Bank. By supplementing families’ food budgets, it aims to foster self-reliance and independence, serving all clients with dignity and respect.

For more information about Gladiolus Food Pantry, located on Gladiolus Drive in Harlem Heights, visit gladiolusfoodpantry.org.

Doc Ford’s Rum Bar & Grille and parent company HM Restaurant Group have a long history of philanthropy and community outreach in Southwest Florida, assisting local charitable groups committed to conservation, community, education and the environment. With locations on Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel Island and two in St. Petersburg, the restaurants have raised over $133,000 for the Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida in Fort Myers and John Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg through $1 donations from the sale of select cocktails.

A similar drink program funds Captains For Clean Water’s commitment to protect the health of the Florida Everglades and Florida Bay. Doc Ford’s is also the title sponsor of the annual “Ding” Darling & Doc Ford’s Tarpon Tournament. The event has donated over $1.57 million to conservation and water-quality research at the island’s J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge since its inception in 2012.