Covid-19 florida keys feed the hungry

SOS Foundation Seeks Community Support for Those Suffering from COVID-19 Caused Food-Insecurity

Covid-19 florida keys feed the hungry
Cars line up in the parking lot of the Basilica School in Key West on Tuesday with their trunks open to receive food during a distribution organized by The SOS Foundation with support from Farm Share, Feeding South Florida, United Way of the Florida Keys, Ocean Reef Community Foundation, and the Monroe County BOCC. SOS has witnessed skyrocketing levels of need due to the Covid-19 virus pandemic and is currently raising funds to continue meeting this need. (Contributed photo)

Not since the Great Depression has food insecurity been so acute in the Florida Keys, and the SOS Foundation, founded in 2006 to support the wellbeing of low-income Monroe County citizens, has become a vital lifeline to many thousands of locals, many of whom have found themselves suddenly out of work and unable to access unemployment benefits due to Florida’s overwhelmed system.

To offer some perspective of the scale of COVID-19 driven need, last year, SOS distributed approximately 100 tons of food. Just last week alone, the organization distributed 45 tons of food to more than 2,400 households via four distribution sites in the Florida Keys, in Key Largo, Islamorada, Stock Island, and Key West.

“The amount of food we are distributing and the numbers of people we are serving have suddenly quadrupled,” said SOS Foundation Executive Director Tom Callahan. “Next week, if the current trend continues, the need will be even greater than this week, so we are asking those in the community who are able to make a monetary donation to help us continue this monumental effort.”

To make a donation and to learn more about The SOS Foundation, which serves the community at no cost, without regard to race, creed, or religion, visit www.sosmission.org. For more information contact Tom Callahan at 410-703-8212 or at [email protected].

Volunteers place boxes and bags of food on a table Tuesday in the parking lot of the Basilica School in Key West for people arriving by foot and bike to a distribution organized by The SOS Foundation with support from Farm Share, Feeding South Florida, United Way of the Florida Keys, Ocean Reef Community Foundation, and the Monroe County BOCC. Area food-insecurity has skyrocketed due to the Covid-19 virus pandemic and SOS is currently fundraising to meet this need. (Contributed photo)

 

Volunteers fill a car trunk with parcels of food on Tuesday during a distribution at the Basilica School parking lot in Key West, at a distribution organized by The SOS Foundation with support from Farm Share, Feeding South Florida, United Way of the Florida Keys, Ocean Reef Community Foundation, and the Monroe County BOCC. The organization has seen skyrocketing levels of need due to the Covid-19 virus pandemic is currently fundraising to meet this need. (Contributed photo)

 

 

 

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