Page 11

30135PC

small staff sees to it that everything gets organized and shared in a timely manner. Public donations make a huge difference, too, and the sorting station at the warehouse looks like it could be a fun Food Network game show set. How many grocery items could YOU sort in a minute? Cindy Sloan, Vice President and Director of The Food Bank of Manatee, is a fast-talking, bundle of energy. She can rattle off facts and numbers and stats so quickly your head will spin. Spend a few minutes with Cindy and you will quickly grasp that she is the right person for the job not only because of her ability to wrangle millions of pounds of food, but because her heart is BIG. She does what she does out of a love so pure you’ll wish it could be bottled and shared with the masses. Running a program like The Food Bank of Manatee requires more than a desire to serve others; it also requires a person who possesses a friendly-yet-��rm character, and knows not only how to use resources wisely, but also the importance of maintaining professionalism and integrity. Maribeth Phillips, the CEO of Meals on Wheels PLUS, will attest to Cindy’s passion for feeding Manatee County. It is apparent that Cindy runs a tight ship, but that everyone enjoys an atmosphere of mutual respect. THE BIG PICTURE The Food Bank of Manatee is the Feeding America food bank of Manatee County. Feeding America provides food assistance to an estimated 46.5 million people nationwide. Of that count, 12 million are children and 7 million are seniors. On a state level, 3.5 million Floridians (1.1 million children) are considered “food insecure”, meaning they don’t always know from where their next meal is going to come. The food insecurity rate in Manatee County is 14.1% of our population. Over 60% of the children in Manatee County qualify for free or reduced school meals. These numbers are staggering and seem unfathomable in our modern world where technology, transportation, and communication should have stamped out hunger. Yet this hunger persists, and it is affecting families in horrifying ways. Improper nutrition associated with low income families results in hunger-related illnesses and medical problems. Hunger in school-aged children decreases development, hinders ability to concentrate, and affects attendance. Hunger in adults decreases productivity, creates absences from work, and insuf��cient performance. All of this perpetuates the cycle. THE FOOD DESERT There is another cause for hunger and it is a matter of accessibility. You may be asking yourself, how can so many people not have access to affordable food? The answer is a geographic phenomenon of people living in areas where there is not a supermarket or fast food restaurant within one mile of home. These areas are aptly identi��ed as Food Deserts. The Food Bank of Manatee mapped these at-risk areas so that resources can be focused on reaching into these neighborhoods, which regrettably also tend to be low-income areas. BASKETS FOR BABIES AND EMERGENCIES Struggling with hunger and food access issues can be exacerbated by the addition of an emergency situation or the addition of a baby. The Food Bank of Manatee strives to assist with both by making certain that emergency of��cials and ��rst


30135PC
To see the actual publication please follow the link above