Feeding the Panhandle Area: PENSACOLA MAGAZINE | 41 Feeding the Gulf Coast What happened to Bay Area Food Bank? It’s undergone somewhat of a marketing makeover, no longer referred to as the food bank of the “Bay Area” but as Feeding the Gulf Coast—a name that says exactly what the food bank aims to accomplish. So, while the name may be gone, the mission and values the local food bank sought to uphold have not been forgotten. “Our new name more accurately describes our mission and reach,” said Kyle Schoolar, external relations and volunteer manager of Feeding the Gulf Coast. “When Bay Area Food Bank was established in 1981, the food bank serviced Mobile and Baldwin counties. Over the years, our service area has grown to over 20,000 square miles, including parts of three states and 24 counties, seven of which are in Florida.” So far, the public response to the change from Bay Area Food Bank to Feeding the Gulf Coast has been very positive, and the new title allows the organization to show its strong ties to Feeding America. In our own Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, Feeding the Gulf Coast successfully distributed over 3 million pounds of food in 2015. That’s over 2.3 million meals, which were provided to food insecure people in both counties. To make this happen, the food was distributed through Feeding the Gulf Coast’s partnerships, which include almost 100 organizations from church pantries to soup kitchens and more throughout Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. More specifically, Feeding the Gulf Coast’s 64 Escambia County partner organizations include the likes of Abundant Life, Appetite for Life, Waterfront Rescue Mission, Poplar Dell Baptist Church, and Epps Christian Center. In Santa Rosa County, the food bank partners with 35 agencies, such as First Baptist Church of Milton, Immanuel Baptist Church, Olivet Baptist Church, Acts Ministries, and New Hope Home-Waterfront Rescue. The nearest branch of Feeding the Gulf Coast is located in Milton, Fla., where over 8 million pounds of food were distributed just last year from the Milton warehouse. This was enough food for over 6 million meals, sent out to food insecure people in the seven-county Florida service area. The faithful volunteers from our two-county area (Escambia and Santa Rosa) dedicated over 3,500 volunteer hours at the Milton warehouse in 2015. Aside from distribution, Feeding the Gulf Coast is all about active involvement in food drives and charity events of various types. This year, a portion of the proceeds from Seville Quarter’s annual Smokin’ in the Square event went to both Feeding the How the Former Bay area food bank is expanding its reach to extend more help to the gulf coast community by dawn gresko Escambia santa rosa okaloosa walton holmes washington bay In 2015, over 8 million pounds of food were distributed from the Panhandle Warehouse in Milton, Fla., across the seven-county area. This was enough food for over 6 million meals, which were sent to food insecure people all the way from Escambia, Santa Rosa, and Okaloosa counties to Walton, Holmes, Washington, and Bay counties.
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