With a team of fewer than 10 employees, Hope Villages of America’s food bank is feeding more than 6,500 people in Pinellas County each month — and the nonprofit says it’s in desperate need of volunteers to keep up.
The Clearwater food bank serves about 200 people every day, and has over 70,000 pounds of food.
Thanks to the success of the recent Stamp Out Hunger food drive, the shelves are full — but without enough hands to sort and hand out those donations, much of that food risks going unused.
“The food can’t just feed people from the shelves without volunteers to help distribute it; it just sits and in some cases expires,” said Lindsay Peek, the volunteer manager at Hope Villages. “We always make sure that we are meeting the needs of people wherever they’re at so that nobody falls through the cracks.”
From packing groceries to stocking shelves and assisting with distribution, Peek says there’s a role for everyone — whether they can give an hour or a full day. And right now, every bit of time makes a difference.
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The organization supports individuals and families across Pinellas County, where food insecurity continues to affect thousands of households.
The food bank has mobile pantries it stocks throughout the community, but the main avenue of distribution is a drive-thru line that runs Monday through Friday at the distribution center at Druid Road and South Myrtle Avenue.
This is where those in need stop by and remain in their vehicles while volunteers bring them packaged food.
Hope Villages also provides dental and hygiene kits, as well as assistance programs for people who need housing or are victims of domestic violence or abuse.
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Peek said she believes the reason for the volunteer shortage is due to last year’s hurricane, ongoing effects from the COVID-19 pandemic and people simply not knowing how large the need is.
“Hunger is silent a lot of times in our community, and without awareness of it, we don’t realize that sometimes our next-door neighbors are hungry,” Peek said. “They’re putting kids to bed hungry. They’re not able to pack lunches for their kids. They’re not able to feed their kids over the summer when they’re not receiving free or reduced food at school.
“There’s no pause button on hunger. There’s no pause button on food scarcity. When natural disasters happen and we recover from hurricanes and things like that, we see the need, but we don’t always see hunger.”
To learn more about volunteer opportunities or sign up, go to hopevillagesofamerica.org.
