Miami, Dec. 19, 2017- Miami Dade College’s (MDC) InterAmerican Campus will host a free food distribution event to assist needy students and families throughout Miami-Dade County, on Saturday, Jan. 20, at 9 a.m. The event is co-presented by City of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, State Representative David Richardson, and Farm Share.
More than 50 volunteers, including MDC students and employees will participate to help sort and distribute free food packages which include nutritious foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables.
According to Feeding South Florida: More than 11 percent of the Miami-Dade County population is food insecure, with 293,070 people not knowing from where they will get their next meal. 100 percent of the food insecure population in Miami-Dade County qualify based on income for SNAP (Foods Stamps) and other federal nutrition programs, while zero percent do not and often must rely on emergency food assistance programs and need better wages and employment opportunities to help them meet their basic needs. More than 21 percent or 119,750 of children in Miami-Dade County are food insecure and go to bed hungry. The food budget shortfall in Miami-Dade County per person per week is $19.39, with a total shortfall of $172,267,000 or 51,739,200 meals.
Farm Share is a non-profit organization that distributes food to individuals and families facing hardships, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, churches, and other organizations feeding the needy in Florida – free of charge. The organization’s mission is to alleviate hunger and malnutrition by recovering and distributing fresh and nutritious food to those who need it most. MDC has partnered with Farm Share for many years with events at multiple campuses.
Food will be available on a first come, first-served basis, while supplies last.
For more information, please contact Diana Herrera at dherrer4@mdc.edu or (305) 237-6186.