Join us in supporting food access efforts
In times of need, Miami always steps forward as a city fueled by generosity. This week as the availability of food stamps continues to be negotiated, 600,000+ Miamians are on the edge of their seats. Nearly 1 in 4 households in our community, including older adults, working families, and veterans, have been impacted by the pause in SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, aka Food Stamps) and WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children) benefits. 38% of local SNAP households include children. While we hope that benefits will be restored in the coming days, we cannot allow hundreds of thousands of our neighbors to go hungry in the meantime.
Across Miami, more than 75 nonprofit organizations prioritize food access as part of their core mission. Those organizations are stepping up to support the increased need, and they will be stretched thin. The previous federal cuts this year of $20+ million to food access programs had already created a fragile food emergency system, and organizations were already overwhelmed by supporting the volume of need with fewer resources. Families are now faced with making difficult choices between spending their limited financial resources on groceries, medicine, or housing.
Cuts to food stamps also have a significant economic impact on our region. Every year, more than $6 billion in revenue comes to Florida through SNAP benefits, meaning that retailers, convenience stores, and businesses will be deeply affected, as customers are no longer able to use those food stamps at local retailers. Similarly, 2,000 TSA and airport workers are working without pay right now because of the government shutdown, though thankfully still showing up to work. These workers are also struggling to feed their families, pay their rent, and fill their cars with gas. And the reality is that if our airport can’t operate, our local economy skids to a halt.
Mass hunger cannot be a consequence of government discord. We are committed to ensuring that all our neighbors have access to food. Last week, we awarded $150,000 in grants to organizations on the frontlines of food access, who are leading the way in ensuring that our neighbors do not go hungry. We have extended support to the following organizations:
Farm Share
Through their robust distribution network, they serve 23 million households across Florida in all 67 counties. Last year, they distributed 43 million pounds in partnership with 300 local nonprofits. For every $1 invested, they can generate nearly 8 pounds of life-sustaining food, which is the equivalent of nearly 6.5 meals.
Feeding South Florida
This organization provides healthy food to 255,000 people annually in Miami Dade County – serving children, older adults, the working poor, single parents, and veterans. They have strategic partnerships with 500+ retail stores and are the largest provider of emergency food assistance in our community.
Bridge to Hope
Operating in an underserved area of South Dade, this organization provides over 2 million meals and 15,000 bags of groceries a year to families in need. Every dollar donated provides 7 meals. 400 new families have already signed up for services in anticipation of SNAP cuts.
Jewish Community Services of South Florida
As the organization that operates Miami’s 211 resource helpline, JCS of South Florida is working to support their 1,400 SNAP clients who will lose an average of $176 per month in food assistance. They are also on the front lines of supporting airport workers.
Urban Health Partnerships
This organization works to coordinate across 200+ diverse local partners in the food system, leading policy and systems change and serving a key role in emergency planning and response. They serve as the managing agency and one of the lead agencies for the Food and Nutrition for All Initiative.
Food Rescue – South Florida
This organization partners with over 200 food donors, 1,100 volunteer food rescuers, and 80 local nonprofits to deliver fresh, usable food destined to have been thrown away by restaurants, grocers, and other food industry sources, ensuring it gets to shelters, pantries and food-insecure families.
Buddy System MIA
This organization works to support a network of community fridges by stocking them with free, healthy food and offering food pantry distributions for homebound individuals. They serve over 5,000 people annually through their food access programs.
Caring for Miami
This organization offers a Mobile Food Market to bring access to fresh, healthy foods to underserved neighborhoods. They also offer a Weekend Meals For Kids that provides weekend meals for over 1,200 children facing food insecurity.
Curley’s House of Style
Feeding over 5,000 people through their Hope Relief Food Bank every month, this organization serves veterans, the elderly, homeless, and anyone else in need. They provide bulk foods, perishable, and nonperishable items like clothing, diapers, and wipes.
The Smile Trust
This organization feeds 200 families every day from its center in Liberty City. The Smile Trust is activating its Community Operations Center to serve as a food distribution hub to support families impacted by the cuts to food stamps.
Village (FREE)DGE
This organization offers daily food distribution to over 200 underserved individuals in Miami, supplying fresh, nutritious meals and groceries to the houseless community and to families in crisis.
These are just a few of the 75+ extraordinary nonprofit organizations working across the food access ecosystem in Miami-Dade County. We encourage you to learn about all the organizations working tirelessly to ensure that individuals in our community don’t go hungry. To learn about the other organizations, visit www.givemiamiday.org and use the search term “food access”.
Please consider giving a little extra this year directly via their websites at the hyperlinks above or on Give Miami Day on November 20 to support the nonprofits keeping our community fed and healthy.
We will not let our neighbors go hungry. Thank you joining us in this commitment to our community.