Today, we're diving into an urgent issue impacting over 1 million of our neighbors across South Florida.

Food insecurity.

When we talk about food insecurity, it's more than an empty pantry.

It's the uncertainty of not knowing if there will be enough to eat, or where the next meal will come from.

This challenge is especially severe in South Florida, where many neighborhoods are considered food deserts, areas with little to no access to fresh, affordable groceries.

For residents of these communities, just finding nutritious food is often an uphill battle, compounded by high living costs.

Today we're highlighting the vital work of organizations committed to fighting food insecurity right here in South Florida.

One of those leading the charge is the Palm Beach County Food Bank, a nonprofit that plays a crucial role in distributing nutritious food to families in need.

And joining me now to share more is Jamie Kendall, CEO of the Palm Beach County Food Bank.

Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

Thank you for having me.

Of course.

We're so glad you're here to talk about this topic, so that people can help.

Let's start off with, you know, when we talk about food insecurity, what is it that we're saying?

Well, we are talking about the individual, the senior, the family that really does not know where their next meal is coming from.

They're that one disaster away, that one flat tire away, from not being able to put enough food on the table for themselves and their families.

How frightening for those folks, and what is the landscape in Palm Beach County?

What are you seeing right now?

We have seen an incredible increase, unfortunately.

So we've had a 31% increase over our numbers from last year.

We look at a study called "Map the Meal Gap," which tells us that over 173,000 individuals in Palm Beach County are at risk of being food insecure.

51,000 of those are children.

Wow, so that is what Palm Beach is seeing right now, according to real time data, it sounds like.

Absolutely, absolutely.

So again, we have seen it that the need grow at the inflationary issues that our working families are facing, are reaping havoc on just your everyday budget.

What about those are the primary factors, right?

Just what we're seeing with the costs of food.

Tell me more about that.

Absolutely.

So again, the inflationary issues, the cost of food, we're all seeing it every time we go to the grocery store, and the housing crisis right here in South Florida, and in Palm Beach County, the cost of housing has gone up.

So people are just really stretching their dollar, trying to make ends meet, and that little bit of extra assistance that they can get with food, and help with food for their family budget, goes a long way.

Talk to us about the clients who come to you guys for support.

Who are you helping?

So, in our field of work, we call it the Alice Population, Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.

So these are individuals and families that are employed, but just don't have the resources to make ends quite meet.

So it's not all of who you think it is?

Well, yes, we have a homeless population, and, yes, we have seniors that are living on fixed incomes.

It really is the working-class poor, working-class, income-constrained individuals that are having the hardest time making ends meet.

Turning to the positive, though, there are programs that can help.

Tell us a little bit more about what the PBC Food Bank does.

Sure, absolutely.

So, the biggest program that we have is called our Partner Marketplace.

So we partner with about 200 agencies in Palm Beach County.

So as a food bank, we work to procure food, we get food in from a number of different ways, and then we get that food out to our partner agencies that have their individualized programs.

So they're really kinda the boots on the ground for our biggest program, which is the Agency Marketplace.

But we also have other programs where we do direct distribution.

Our childhood hunger initiatives, that has certainly grown.

We have a big program called the Backpack Program, where we provide nutritious meals to the children.

We work very closely with our school system, and we get food out to the kids during the week, so that on the weekends they have those resources at home.

And then we also have our senior hunger programs, where we're making sure that our senior population has enough to eat and has the resource needed.

It's sad to think there are children out there who could be going hungry, so.

Oh, absolutely, absolutely.

It's kind of a quiet problem in our community.

A lot of people don't wanna talk about it.

A lot of people don't realize that it actually, in today's world, that people actually go to bed hungry, but they absolutely do, and a lot of people don't wanna bring it to anybody's attention.

We have seniors that we talk to on a daily basis that have always made it by, they've never had to ask for that little bit of help.

And now living on, you know, incomes that are, you know, super tight, and with the inflationary issues they just can't make it.

Well, tell us about the community kitchen.

This is a fun, cool, new way It is.

To get involved, and learn something and get some help.

Absolutely.

So we've been on this program and this project line for about two years, a little over two years.

And we just completed our community kitchen that opened for us in the beginning of July.

And that program is going to enable us to make hot nutritious meals for our kids programs, summer feeding programs, after school programs, and as well as our senior and home-delivered meal program.

So we're gonna be doing a lot outta that kitchen.

The kitchen is able to prepare up to 10,000 meals a day.

So when we really Busy.

Yeah, so when we really get ramped up with all of the addition of the new programs, we're gonna have the resources to do so.

And that starts in January, you said, right?

Yes.

We're making the meals right now, but we will also be having a culinary training program that starts in January.

So we're gonna have a cohort of students that will come through.

It's a free program to anybody that might be facing employment barriers, that is looking to get into the hospitality industry.

And so we're gonna give them the skillset needed to kinda remove them from the line of needing help.

So it's kind of a teach man to fish type of scenario.

Where then they can go out and get an employable job here in the community to better their lives and the lives of their families.

How can you volunteer at the food bank?

Sure.

So we can't do what we do every day without our volunteers.

We have volunteer groups coming in Monday through Friday, a few Saturdays a month.

You can go to our website, PBCFoodBank.org, hit on that volunteer link, and see all the different opportunities that we have, and sign up to come and help.

Food waste is a big issue here.

Tell us how you work to reduce that while addressing the hunger your community.

Absolutely.

So as a food bank, we rescue food.

That's the main thing that we do.

So we know that there is surplus of food at the grocery stores.

We know there's a surplus of food with our local agricultural community, the notsoperfect sweet potato, let's say that might not make it to the grocery store, but is perfectly nutritious and a great product.

And so we can kind of rescue some of those foods, and make sure that we can get those out into our community, and help with food waste at the same time.

You sort of make it sound easy, obviously it's not.

What are some of the biggest challenges, and also the goals you hope to achieve?

So our biggest challenge is just like everybody else, the food banks are facing inflationary issues.

A lot of times we have to purchase the food that we have for our programs.

So just like everybody else going to the grocery store, seeing that increase in what you're paying for that food, we're seeing as well.

So right now that's our biggest challenge is keeping up with the need, and making sure that we have the resources, and the financial resources, to make sure that nobody goes to bed hungry.

What are the type of donations, and the type of food or items that are in high demand right now?

Anything protein.

We love our protein items.

So our non-perishable protein items, our canned chicken, our canned tuna, our peanut butter, those types of protein items are always kinda low on our shelves, so we're always asking people, whenever you're going to a food drive, or your kids come home from school and say, "Our school's doing a food drive tomorrow," dig a little bit deeper.

And instead of that can of green beans, which we love, we'd really love a jar of peanut butter, 'cause it goes a lot further for our families.

What else can people do, besides volunteer, donate?

Is there anything else?

They can advocate for us.

They can advocate for the food bank.

They could advocate for the hungry people that live right here in our community.

These are people that your children go to school with.

The people that you interact with on a daily basis, again employed, they might be the people that are working at the stores that you are going to.

So just kind of get out there, really understand that this is an issue, it's an issue right here at home.

[Arlene] Big issue.

And maybe educate your neighbors, other family members, that this is really happening right here in our community, and there's ways that everybody can help.

Jamie Kendall, thank you so much for being here to encourage people to get out there and either help or advocate, donate.

Contact the PBC Food Bank to help those in need.

Absolutely.

Thank you so much for having me.