Food distributions combat hunger during pandemic

Miami-Dade County Chairwoman Audrey Edmonson stands behind a table during a free food distribution event for residents as part of the county’s efforts to provide food for those in need during the coronavirus pandemic. Photo courtesy of Miami-Dade County
Error message
In order to filter by the "in queue" property, you need to add the Entityqueue: Queue relationship.-
County NewsWith 30 million Americans filing for unemployment because of the COVID-19 pandemic, people are facing another challenge that comes with losing their jobs: Putting food on the table. Counties are helping.Food distributions combat hunger during pandemic
-
County News Article
Food distributions combat hunger during pandemic
With 30 million Americans filing for unemployment because of the COVID-19 pandemic, people are facing another challenge that comes with losing their jobs: Putting food on the table.
“There’s nothing more important than providing food,” Essex County, N.J. Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, Jr. said. “People have to eat.”
In Essex County, a diverse community made up of both suburban and urban areas including Newark, DiVincenzo said the county’s unemployment rate is always higher than the national average.
“We have people in Essex County who are hurting very much,” he said. “Not only do we have homeless, we have people who are laid off. We have people who have been laid off for the first time probably ever in their life.”
To help county residents who are struggling purchasing food, the county is holding a series of emergency drive-through food distributions.
During the first distribution, the county partnered with Community Food Bank, an anti-hunger organization. DiVincenzo and his staff placed over 2,000 boxes of food — the equivalent of 40 meals per week — in the trunk of each recipient’s car.
Each box contained canned fruit and vegetables, spaghetti, shelf-stable milk, soup, tuna fish, oatmeal, peanut butter and other items.
During the first distribution, they had to turn cars away.
“At that time when I was there at the site, I knew that we had to continue this program,” he said.
DiVincenzo is taking the free food distributions throughout Essex County and has held distributions in various communities with the plan to hold 10 in different locations. For the rest of the distributions, the county is purchasing food through vendors like Shop Rite and being reimbursed for the spending by the CARES Act.
“The people who were there say, ‘thank you,’ but you can see the look on their faces,” he described. “They’re very much appreciative of what we’re doing, but they don’t want to be there. They’d rather be working and providing their way.”
In Nassau County, N.Y., County Executive Laura Curran launched Nassau’s Community Food Distribution Initiative to combat food insecurity issues on Long Island outside of New York City.
To hold the distributions, Curran set aside federal money that’s reimbursable through the CARES Act to buy food to support Island Harvest, a non-profit with food banks and food pantries.
The county partnered with the organization to set up distribution sites to hand out food items which included meat, yogurt, dairy, fruit and vegetables, canned food and pasta — enough food for a typical family for one week.
Each distribution covers around 900 to 1,000 people, with one site even seeing 1,300 recipients with individuals standing in lines snaking around several blocks.
The county has held drives at multiple locations with plans for more.
“We’re feeling the economic devastation here,” she said. “We have a lot of small businesses… a lot of mom and pop shops that can’t operate right now and people aren’t working.”
In Nassau County, SNAP applications tripled in April compared to April 2019, according to Curran.
“It’s going to take a long time to recover so the more the government can help get food to people, get resources where they need to go, that’s why we’re here,” she said.
In Florida, officials in Miami-Dade County are sponsoring various food distribution events to help those dealing with food insecurity.
Chairwoman Audrey Edmonson partnered with two organizations, FarmShare and Feeding South Florida, to hold free food distributions as well as deliveries for county residents in need.
During the distributions, recipients drive through the opening of a gate where volunteers instruct them to pop their trunks, Edmonson said. The food is placed in their trunks with items including frozen beef, canned goods, bread, cheese, orange juice, fresh fruit, raisins and vegetables, among others.
“You name it, we have been serving it,” she said.
One food drive distributed meals to 500 families and delivered 120 meals. Another fed 700 families and completed 50 deliveries, according to Edmonson.
For deliveries, county trucks and county employees bring boxes of food to the elderly and disabled who have called and expressed concerns over obtaining food.
“I want to do these deliveries as often as we can because we do have elderly who are shut in and have not been leaving their homes and they have to eat as well,” she said.
Edmonson said she noticed a difference with current food distributions reaching a different demographic of middle-class recipients.
“You have people who have been living check to check,” she said. “Even if they had another month’s worth of funding to pay their bills, they’re out of those funds now and that’s why you’re seeing the different categories of people coming in.”
Edmonson’s colleague Commissioner Joe Martinez has also sponsored food drives throughout the county with South Florida and Farm Share. For his first distribution, over 1,200 families received food.
“We are noticing that if we put the flyer out for a 9 a.m. start to the distribution, some people are lining up in their vehicles at 1 a.m., 2 a.m. with children,” he said. “The indication of that was that people were hurting really badly.”
Martinez emphasized the important role of county officials who are familiar with their districts and aware of areas facing food insecurity.
“It’s ground level roots helping out,” he said.
With 30 million Americans filing for unemployment because of the COVID-19 pandemic, people are facing another challenge that comes with losing their jobs: Putting food on the table. Counties are helping.2020-05-26County News Article2023-04-11
With 30 million Americans filing for unemployment because of the COVID-19 pandemic, people are facing another challenge that comes with losing their jobs: Putting food on the table.
“There’s nothing more important than providing food,” Essex County, N.J. Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, Jr. said. “People have to eat.”
In Essex County, a diverse community made up of both suburban and urban areas including Newark, DiVincenzo said the county’s unemployment rate is always higher than the national average.
“We have people in Essex County who are hurting very much,” he said. “Not only do we have homeless, we have people who are laid off. We have people who have been laid off for the first time probably ever in their life.”
To help county residents who are struggling purchasing food, the county is holding a series of emergency drive-through food distributions.
During the first distribution, the county partnered with Community Food Bank, an anti-hunger organization. DiVincenzo and his staff placed over 2,000 boxes of food — the equivalent of 40 meals per week — in the trunk of each recipient’s car.
Each box contained canned fruit and vegetables, spaghetti, shelf-stable milk, soup, tuna fish, oatmeal, peanut butter and other items.
During the first distribution, they had to turn cars away.
“At that time when I was there at the site, I knew that we had to continue this program,” he said.
DiVincenzo is taking the free food distributions throughout Essex County and has held distributions in various communities with the plan to hold 10 in different locations. For the rest of the distributions, the county is purchasing food through vendors like Shop Rite and being reimbursed for the spending by the CARES Act.
“The people who were there say, ‘thank you,’ but you can see the look on their faces,” he described. “They’re very much appreciative of what we’re doing, but they don’t want to be there. They’d rather be working and providing their way.”
In Nassau County, N.Y., County Executive Laura Curran launched Nassau’s Community Food Distribution Initiative to combat food insecurity issues on Long Island outside of New York City.
To hold the distributions, Curran set aside federal money that’s reimbursable through the CARES Act to buy food to support Island Harvest, a non-profit with food banks and food pantries.
The county partnered with the organization to set up distribution sites to hand out food items which included meat, yogurt, dairy, fruit and vegetables, canned food and pasta — enough food for a typical family for one week.
Each distribution covers around 900 to 1,000 people, with one site even seeing 1,300 recipients with individuals standing in lines snaking around several blocks.
The county has held drives at multiple locations with plans for more.
“We’re feeling the economic devastation here,” she said. “We have a lot of small businesses… a lot of mom and pop shops that can’t operate right now and people aren’t working.”
In Nassau County, SNAP applications tripled in April compared to April 2019, according to Curran.
“It’s going to take a long time to recover so the more the government can help get food to people, get resources where they need to go, that’s why we’re here,” she said.
In Florida, officials in Miami-Dade County are sponsoring various food distribution events to help those dealing with food insecurity.
Chairwoman Audrey Edmonson partnered with two organizations, FarmShare and Feeding South Florida, to hold free food distributions as well as deliveries for county residents in need.
During the distributions, recipients drive through the opening of a gate where volunteers instruct them to pop their trunks, Edmonson said. The food is placed in their trunks with items including frozen beef, canned goods, bread, cheese, orange juice, fresh fruit, raisins and vegetables, among others.
“You name it, we have been serving it,” she said.
One food drive distributed meals to 500 families and delivered 120 meals. Another fed 700 families and completed 50 deliveries, according to Edmonson.
For deliveries, county trucks and county employees bring boxes of food to the elderly and disabled who have called and expressed concerns over obtaining food.
“I want to do these deliveries as often as we can because we do have elderly who are shut in and have not been leaving their homes and they have to eat as well,” she said.
Edmonson said she noticed a difference with current food distributions reaching a different demographic of middle-class recipients.
“You have people who have been living check to check,” she said. “Even if they had another month’s worth of funding to pay their bills, they’re out of those funds now and that’s why you’re seeing the different categories of people coming in.”
Edmonson’s colleague Commissioner Joe Martinez has also sponsored food drives throughout the county with South Florida and Farm Share. For his first distribution, over 1,200 families received food.
“We are noticing that if we put the flyer out for a 9 a.m. start to the distribution, some people are lining up in their vehicles at 1 a.m., 2 a.m. with children,” he said. “The indication of that was that people were hurting really badly.”
Martinez emphasized the important role of county officials who are familiar with their districts and aware of areas facing food insecurity.
“It’s ground level roots helping out,” he said.

-
Webinar
New Options to Combat Summer Hunger: What Counties Need to Know
Sep. 21, 2023 , 1:00 pmSummer hunger impacts too many children when they lose access to nutritious school meals. -
Reports & Toolkits
Legislative Toolkit for Counties: Priorities for Strengthening the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
This toolkit provides an overview of the county role in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), federal policy priorities for ensuring SNAP is effectively serving county residents and the current legislative and administrative outlook for program reforms. -
County News
‘Dr. Drew’ applauds progress in mental health care, but ‘still progress to be made’
“It’s not that hard to treat,” Pinsky said of the mental health crisis. “We just need the resources, we need the beds, we need the psychiatrists.” -
County News
Two-county solution offers urban Nevada kids a rural retreat
Clark County, Nevada youths now have access to a new 4-H camp in neighboring Lincoln County, which will retain jobs it would have lost when a corporate retreat center closed. -
County News
County’s mobile market closes the grocery desert gap
Gwinnett County, Ga. teamed up with a food bank to create a mobile community market to alleviate food insecurity, which had increased during the pandemic. -
County News
Collaboration helps Dallas County, Texas reduce homelessness
Dallas County, which has the largest population of people experiencing homelessness in Texas, is working with local governments and non-profits to combat the crisis through the R.E.A.L. Time Rehousing program.
-
Basic page
Human Services & Education Steering Committee
All matters pertaining to children’s issues, foster care, public assistance and income support, services to senior citizens and individuals with disabilities, immigration policy, social services, and elementary, secondary and post-secondary education. Policy Platform & Resolutions 2022-2023 2022 NACo Legislative Prioritiespagepagepage<p>All matters pertaining to children’s issues, foster care, public assistance and income support, services to senior citizens and individuals with disabilities, immigration policy, social services, and elementary,
Contact
Related Resources
-
County News
‘Dr. Drew’ applauds progress in mental health care, but ‘still progress to be made’
“It’s not that hard to treat,” Pinsky said of the mental health crisis. “We just need the resources, we need the beds, we need the psychiatrists.” -
County News
Two-county solution offers urban Nevada kids a rural retreat
Clark County, Nevada youths now have access to a new 4-H camp in neighboring Lincoln County, which will retain jobs it would have lost when a corporate retreat center closed. -
County News
County’s mobile market closes the grocery desert gap
Gwinnett County, Ga. teamed up with a food bank to create a mobile community market to alleviate food insecurity, which had increased during the pandemic.
-
Reports & Toolkits
Legislative Toolkit for Counties: Priorities for Strengthening the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
This toolkit provides an overview of the county role in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), federal policy priorities for ensuring SNAP is effectively serving county residents and the current legislative and administrative outlook for program reforms. -
Reports & Toolkits
The County Role in Food Systems
Among our numerous responsibilities, serving as the front line of the social safety net is a primary function of county governments to ensure healthy, safe and vibrant communities for our residents. -
Reports & Toolkits
The County Human Services and Education Landscape
Counties invest heavily in residents’ health and well-being, often serving as the ultimate safety net for low-income residents. This toolkit provides an overview of the county role in federal human services and education programs that help vulnerable residents thrive.
More From
-
Legislative Analysis for Counties: The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023
This analysis includes funding highlights for key programs impacting counties.
Learn More