The Rotary Club of Bonita Springs asks for help in feeding residents impacted by the Covid-19 Pandemic

The Rotary Club of Bonita Springs Foundation has donated $20,000 to feed local neighbors. They are asking for your help to continue providing inventory to our local food pantries.

Donation Amount

(Bonita Springs, FL – April 24, 2020) – The Rotary Club of Bonita Springs is helping to feed the hungry. Through its foundation, the Rotary Club of Bonita Springs has donated $20,000 to help feed local families. And, every Wednesday, Rotarians volunteer alongside Meals of Hope to deliver the much needed groceries. However, local families are still going hungry because of limited supplies.

The Meals of Hope mobile pantry and its partnership with Bonita Springs Elementary School, the Harry Chapin Food Bank, and the Midwest Food Bank, serves about 275 Bonita Springs families each week. On more than one occasion they have run out of food and sadly some families had to leave empty handed.

It only costs $100 per week to provide a family of four with meat, fresh produce and dry goods. The Rotary Club is asking the community to consider providing a $25 bag of groceries through Rotary’s association with Meals of Hope. Interested community members can click on the “FOOD PANTRY” button and use the payment button to make a donation to feed our neighbors in Bonita Springs.

The Rotary Club of Bonita Springs, through its charitable foundation, is providing a $10,000 gift to the Meals of Hope Mobile food pantry and a second $10,000 gift to The Harry Chapin Food Bank.

“I would like to thank you for making a difference in the lives of my school children. It’s comforting to know that we have a partner in education that will go above and beyond to help children learn by providing them with nutritious food that will help shape their futures,” said Rob Cooper, Principal of Bonita Springs Elementary School.

According to Barbara Evans, HCFB’s Chief Development Officer, “Harry Chapin Food Bank provides roughly 70% of the food inventory of six Bonita Springs partner agencies, including Meals of Hope, and we operate a drive-thru distribution in Bonita Springs to feed the hungry residents of Bonita Springs. Due to the Coronavirus, we are experiencing unprecedented demands that increase weekly. We are proud and grateful to receive this generous funding
from the Rotary Club of Bonita Springs and will use the funding to help meet this growing need.”

For more information, Contact:
Chris Riesen, criesen1@yahoo.com
President, Rotary Club of Bonita Springs

Stephanie Kissinger skissinger714@gmail.com
President, Foundation of the Rotary Club of Bonita Springs

ABOUT THE ROTARY CLUB OF BONITA SPRINGS
The Rotary Club of Bonita Springs was founded in 1978 and is part of Rotary International, a fellowship and service organization for community and business leaders. Worldwide, Rotary has more than 1.2 million members in 35,000+ clubs in nearly every country. Locally, the Bonita Springs Club meets weekly for breakfast meetings, holds annual fundraisers, and financially supports community and international service projects.

ABOUT HARRY CHAPIN FOOD BANK
Harry Chapin Food Bank, a member of Feeding America, is the largest hunger-relief organization in Southwest Florida. The food bank rescues food that would otherwise go to waste and distributes it to families and others in need through a series of programs that feed 28,000 people a week.

For every dollar donated, the food bank can provide $8 in food value. Harry Chapin Food Bank distributed $42.8 million worth of food in fiscal year 2019. Through our programs, we supplied nearly 26.7 million pounds of food and other grocery items, including 6.4 million pounds of fresh produce. The food is the equivalent of 22.2 million meals for people in need.

Our membership with Feeding America enables us to amplify our food and distribution efforts and bring in food from various retail and grocery stores, national food producers and distributors and growers locally, nationally and even internationally.

Harry Chapin Food Bank is proud to be named a Blueprint Partner by the Naples Children & Education Foundation (NCEF), the founding organization of the Naples Winter Wine Festival. Harry Chapin Food Bank is also a United Way partner agency. For more information or to make gift, call 239.334.7007 or visit harrychapinfoodbank.org.

ABOUT MEALS OF HOPE
The Mission of Meals of Hope is “To inspire and empower communities to come together to end hunger.” We believe it is our job to feed people. Meals of Hope began as a food packing organization, and we are the only food packing organization with a priority on keeping the food packed within the United States. We developed five meals specifically designed for the American palate with added vitamins, minerals and proteins to supplement an unbalanced diet.
Most of our packed meals are donated to the Feeding America Food Bank Network. More than 25,000 volunteers and thirteen full and part time staff members assist Meals of Hope in achieving its Mission.