FDACS Commissioner, Nikki Fried and Other Elected Dignitaries Visited Feeding South Florida on July 15

Florida Department of Agriculture Commissioner, Nikki Fried and Other Florida State Elected Dignitaries Visited Feeding Palm Beach County® on July 15

Fried Got Hands-on with Hunger-relief Efforts and Participated in a Round Table Discussion

On Monday, July 15, Florida Department of Agriculture Commissioner, Nikki Fried and other Florida state elected officials visited Feeding Palm Beach County®, a branch of Feeding South Florida®, the leading domestic hunger-relief organization in the South Florida region. Dignitaries toured the Feeding Palm Beach County facility, learned about plans for the kitchen and heard more about the organization’s mission to end hunger in South Florida.

Prior to the tour of the facility, Commissioner Fried and other Florida state elected officials in attendance, including Representative Tina Scott Polsky, Representative Joseph Casello, Representative Michael Caruso, Representative David Silvers and more, participated in a roundtable discussion. Dignitaries spoke about various topics related to food insecurity, particularly in South Florida. Commissioner Fried and others then volunteered their time to prepare emergency disaster relief boxes..

Also in attendance were Feeding South Florida Board Members Max Piet and Don Hsieh as well as Quantum Foundation President & CEO Eric Kelly. Quantum Foundation, as part of its commitment to food access in Palm Beach County, is a large supporter of Feeding South Florida; having donated $25,000, to support the launch of MealConnect, an app designed to revolutionize and seamlessly automate the way food is rescued and distributed.

Feeding South Florida is the leading domestic hunger-relief organization serving South Florida. The organization partners with 300 nonprofit partner agencies throughout its quad-county service area (Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties). In 2018, the organization received help from approximately 27,000 volunteers. This year, 35,000 volunteers passed through the organization’s doors to help sort food for families in need.

Since 2012, Feeding South Florida has more than tripled its output of food from 6 million pounds and 5 million meals, to more than 21 million pounds and 17.5 million meals in 2019 – in Palm Beach County alone. More than just providing food, the organization’s goals include breaking the cycle of hunger and poverty, and employing innovative programs to transition families from dependency to self-sufficiency.