![]() He said Brother's Keeper Soup Kitchen currently prepares about 150 sandwich meals daily.Ī man sitting in an area near the soup kitchen who identified himself only as Jeffrey said if not for the meals at the soup kitchen "he would starve to death." "I don’t know what we would do without them," he said.Įd Hamilton, assistant of operations at Brother's Keeper Soup Kitchen in downtown Ocala, said the operation has received food and donated some items to First Step Food Bank. He said the food bank’s warehouse staff does a fantasitic job of handling the food and helping out ![]() Gary Pascale, office manager at Marion County Veterans Helping Veterans, said the organization assists 70 to 100 veterans monthly with food, thanks to its partnership with First Step Food Bank. He emphasized that the merger was about people not just increased food distribution numbers.Įast praised Del Toro and the staff and said the merger should be an "awesome addition."Įast said she "believes in unity in the community" and people joining to help each other. The merger is aimed at bolstering the Marion County branch distribution level to perhaps 10 million pounds annually (more than 8.3 million meals) in a few years and provide programs like summer meals for school children, according to Derrick Chubbs, president and CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida.Ĭhubbs indicated the two food banks have worked together for 30 years but now have officially merged. Which ones received the most? Taking a look at the numbers Helping out: Give4Marion raised a record $771,000 for 87 local nonprofits. Local United Way gets interim CEO: Scot Quintel to lead Ocala/Marion homelessness office Local struggle: In SW Marion, a small land owner tries to resolve an access issue with On Top of the World 14 press conference at the Marion Branch warehouse at 4035 NE 36th Ave.įirst Step Food Bank was established in Ocala in 1992 and currently distributes about 2 million pounds of food annually (more than 1.6 million meals) to more than 40 agencies that operate 38 emergency food pantries, kitchens and other outreaches in Marion County, according to. The merger with Orlando-based Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, touted as one of Central Florida's largest hunger relief networks, was announced at a Nov. Before he reinvented himself as a food banker, he had a career in the Advertising Agency business and attended Columbus College of Art & Design.ĭave is married, two children, seven grandchildren and a very protective schnauzer.Watch Video: Food bank merger helps those in need in Marion Countyįirst Step Food Bank of Ocala is now the Marion County branch of the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. of Business Development at Feeding America. Prior to his role at Second Harvest, Dave was V.P. He was the Orlando Sentinel’s “2009 Central Floridian of the Year”, Orlando Magazine’s 2019 Top 50 Most Powerful People and a Florida Trend magazine “Icon”. The organization annually receives Charity Navigator’s Four Star rating.ĭave has 29 years of experience in food banking in positions such as a national Feeding America Board member, past president of Feeding Florida, chair of the Feeding America eastern region, chaired various national task forces, and also served as a member of a bi-partisan Washington, DC think tank. Second Harvest’s annual economic impact in Central Florida is $187 million. ![]() Last year, Second Harvest distributed enough food for 99.5 million meals, have trained and placed into jobs 325 graduates of their Culinary and Distribution Center Training programs and generated $100 million worth of SNAP benefits through their award-winning mobile outreach program. ![]() Second Harvest Food Bank serves a six County area in Central Florida through a network of 550 partner agencies. ![]() For the past 17 years, Dave Krepcho has served as the President/CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida a member of Feeding America, the largest domestic hunger relief organization in the U.S. ![]()
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