'One in six people struggle with hunger along the gulf coast'

MILTON — Feeding the Gulf Coast will now be able to double their food drive efforts thanks to a grant award.

The nonprofit recently received a $25,000 dollar award from the non-profit organization Sunday’s Child which they will use to purchase a modern outdoor produce cooler for the facility in Milton, according to external relations manager Kyle Schoolar.

“When we built that facility in 2008 they thought the most food we would distribute out of that facility is about 4.5 billion pounds, five at the most,” Schoolar said. “Last year, we did over 9 million pounds.”

The FTGC purchase of this produce cooler will allow the facility to store an additional 20 pallets—up to 40,000 pounds—of fresh produce each week. Schoolar said they decided to use the grant money for this cooler after looking at a strategic plan and seeing this was where the money could be best used.

“We realized that at the end of 2017 we had to leave funding on the table and we had turned out 80,000 pounds of produce because we couldn’t get it out into the community,” Schoolar said. “That meant that 6,000 people did not have access to it.”

FTFC applied for the grant through Sunday’s Child because the nonprofit agency does not discriminate, the same as Feeding the Gulf Coast. Schoolar said their organization works hard to adhere to a non-discrimination policy.

“We went through the process,” Schoolar said. “We applied for a few years and this was just a really good fit and so we were really excited that they were able to help us take on this project.”

“One in six people struggle with hunger along the gulf coast,” FTGC president Cathy Pope said in an email. “We are thankful to Sunday’s Child for helping us ensure that people who struggle with hunger have access to healthy produce.”

According to the FTGC website, its mission is to work through member organizations and special programs to provide nutritious foods to meet the challenge of feeding people who are hungry as a result of personal crisis or disaster. They also work to educate the public regarding domestic hunger, proper nutrition and related issues.

Those interested in supporting the organization or volunteering should visit feedingthegulfcoast.org or call 850-626-1332.