A food pantry in Mount Dora is putting out an urgent call for food donations. Lake Cares Food Pantry has experienced a decline in food donations, while hunger continues to rise in the area.
The pantry, which in 2024 served about 1,600 families a month, has seen that number increase by 500, putting a strain on resources and leaving pantry shelves almost bare.
Lake Cares Executive Director Kelsey Gonzalez said it’s pretty typical that food donations drop after the holidays.
“So usually during the holidays, everything is heightened,” she said. “People are in the spirit of giving, and it just naturally happens, right? Everyone wants to do something nice for the holidays, for other people, and then the holidays are over and people are still hungry in January and February and March.”
But, Gonzalez said this year it’s even worse. With costs rising, the food bank is seeing fewer food and monetary donations. That trend is coupled with long lines of families and individuals visiting the pantry for the first time.
“These are working-class families who are trying their best to make ends meet, and they are doing what they can, but with everything else on the rise, like rent, home loans, gas, just everything and …their wage not going up, they are fighting to try to make that very hard decision of keeping a roof over their head for their families or meals on their table to eat,” Gonzalez said.
Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida’s Director of Philanthropy Dan Samuels said they’re seeing food pantries struggle around the region. Lake Cares he says is not alone.
Second Harvest, which serves seven Central Florida counties, partners with Lake Cares to feed people throughout Lake County.
“These are families who may have been impacted by the government shutdown and are still working to get back on their feet,” Samuels said. “They might also be families that are dealing with the daily disaster of the car breaking down, or the kid being sick and not being able to go to work. And as we enter these cold months and we have to turn on our heaters at home, we also know our electric bills or our gas bills might also go up.”
Samuels said that, over the past year, Second Harvest has gone from distributing more than 300,000 meals per day to 330,000.
And just over the past month, he said, searches on the food bank’s online food locator tool have risen by 10%.
“This is a challenge that we are all facing together to make sure that enough food continues to go out for all of our neighbors who need it,” Samuels said. “And sometimes there just isn't enough coming in to be able to get onto their shelves.”
At Lake Cares, Gonzalez said people who want to help the food pantry can donate high-need pantry items like canned meat and fish, boxed pasta, rice, cereal, jars of peanut butter and shelf-stable meals, along with other non-perishable foods.
Donations are accepted at the food pantry, at 4500 N Highway 19A, on Monday, Thursday and Friday between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. People can also donate online at the food pantry’s website or through the food pantry’s Amazon wish list.
Second Harvest is a financial sponsor of Central Florida Public Media but does not influence our independent journalism.
