- Second Harvest of the Big Bend held their second annual Hunger Summit Thursday.
- The event celebrated recent achievements including record distribution numbers, successful partnerships, and identified future goals to help tackle increasing food insecurity.
- Watch the video to see the groundbreaking of the new center that will help them achieve their mission.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
The fight to end hunger in our communities continues at Second Harvest of the Big Bend.
That’s with a new Impact Center – a space for volunteers, community members, and training in how to balance your plate and stretch your food dollars.
This comes as the organization also reveals the latest food insecurity data for our neighborhoods.
Breaking ground to break down barriers to food access.
Thursday, Second Harvest of the Big Bend began work on their new impact center.
"A brand new volunteer area where our neighbors can come in and help pack bags, sort food, and serve their neighbors," said Monique Ellsworth, CEO of Second Harvest of the Big Bend, describing the new center. "We will also have a demonstration kitchen where we can have people come in and take cooking classes."
Pushing the food bank to reach its next steps.
"To maintain the great relationships we've established, working to build on ones who are smaller, and dreaming, inviting our community to dream with us on what we can become," said Ellsworth.
These goals and achievements were the focus of Thursday's Hunger Summit.
Ellsworth announced they distributed 22 million pounds of food in the last 12 months, five million more pounds than last year, to places like Taylor County.
"We're absolutely blessed to have the partnership and relationships we have with Second Harvest," said Taylor County Commissioner Michael Newman.
Taylor County has been working closely with Second Harvest in the last year following two mill closures and two natural disasters.
"We were still working on recovery from Idalia when Hurricane Debby came through, so we're seeing some of those issues really compounded," said Newman.
The food insecurity rate within children in Taylor County currently sits at 26%.
"Continuing to increase our concern knowing that our economic situation is in difficult state and we're still trying to recover from these natural disasters," said Newman.
Newman said he is grateful for current volunteers in the County and hopes to see more economic investment in the area to help address food insecurity.
Thursday's event also included a panel discussing the role food can play in affecting health outcomes.
"Ensuring that members have their core needs, those basic needs met, we know that ultimately empowers them to take care of their health," said Ashley Davis, Whole Health Director at Simply Healthcare, one of the panelists.
Simply Healthcare donated $100,000 Thursday to Second Harvest.
"We know that by investing in nutrition programs and access to food, that we're helping to not only treat illness but prevent illness," said Davis.
Second Harvest of the Big Bend said the Impact Center will open for operation in January 2026.
