WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — As South Florida continues to rebound from the impacts of the cornavirus pandemic, many families are still struggling to put food on the table. But on Friday, those families got much-needed help.
The Tree of Life Resource Center hosted its monthly free food distribution event, giving away hundreds of boxes of food to local families in need.
Help got underway Friday morning for families in need of food as the Tree of Life Resource Center hosted its free monthly food distribution event behind the Palm Beach Outlets.
"It is fantastic man, fantastic job the community and volunteers who are helping the people who really needs it. It's a blessing," said Joseph Heatley, who helped deliver food to senior citizens.
Waiting in line were people like Heatley, who was picking up food for seniors in need.
"They really really grateful, anything you need bring it, vegetables food something like that, they really really appreciate it. A lot of seniors that can't get out or don't have transportation to get the food," Heatley said.
Handing out food were people like Bradley Quimbley, who went through the Tree of Life Resource Center for recovery and is now giving back to others.
"If you need it just come by and say you know what, i need help. Don't worry about the stigma about what people think about you. We still love you, we not judging, bad times happen to everybody," Quimbley said.
The need for these food drives speak for themselves, as organizers say they usually run out of hundreds of bags and boxes of food within the first hour that they're open.
"These are my favorite days of the month. I love seeing the people come through, I love knowing that we blessed 500 families with food for the week to help out to help sustain," said Meghan Mayo, the coordinator of the Tree of Life Resource Center.
The event is a vision of Amanda Schumacher, which came to life during the pandemic. Since it began almost two years ago, the Tree of Life Resource Center has distributed over 500,000 pounds of resources for families.
The Tree of Life Resource Center just got approval to continue its food efforts through 2022.
The food drive is held on the second Friday of every month.
For more information about receiving food or services, contact Tree of Life Resource Center at (561) 656-5601 or visit their website.