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Many Polk County churches and nonprofit groups get food from One More Child to distribute to their communities. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow
5-minute read
There’s no dust on the thousands of boxes stacked on pallets at One More Child’s food bank near Lake Hunter.
The cases and crates of canned green beans, pasta, baby food, milk and bottled water don’t stick around long enough for that.
Every weekday morning, local churches and nonprofit groups pull up to the Compassion Center warehouse.
Some load food into vans, like Travis Doodles, founder and president of the Worth & Purpose Street Ministry. Others hoist their boxes into U-Haul trucks, such as Nicole Jones, children’s ministry leader at Zion Hope Baptist Church.
“The vast majority of our food is here for less than 48 hours,” said Craig Parrow, executive director of operations at One More Child.
“Today is Tuesday. The product that came in Friday is probably already gone.”
Nicole Jones of Zion Hope Baptist Church stocks up for the congregation’s “Meals that Heal” program. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow
Sometimes her SUV is big enough, but on Tuesday Nicole Jones of Zion Hope Baptist Church rented a U-Haul to get food. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow
Craig Parrow, executive director of operations at One More Child, stands near one of hundreds of pallets of food in the organization’s Lakeland warehouse. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow
Travis Doodles’ Worth & Purpose street ministry has an ice cream truck, a pizza van and a barber trailer. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow
Travis Doodles loads food into the ice cream truck he uses for “pop up” food distributions. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow
Not enough
One More Child operates two large food banks, one at its Lakeland headquarters and a newer one in Bradenton.
Together, the warehouses supply 1 million to 1.5 million pounds of food every month to churches, homeless shelters and more, Parrow said.
Another factor increasing demand is the dismantling of several federal food programs by President Donald Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency’s initiative to reduce what they say is government waste.
In March, the U.S. Department of Agriculture:
Eliminated the Local Food for Schools program, which would have provided $660 million for school cafeterias to buy fresh produce, meat and staple foods from local farmers.
Eliminated the Local Food Purchase Assistance program, which would have provided $500 million for food banks to buy fresh local food.
Cut $500 million — about half of the total funding — from the Emergency Food Assistance Program, which buys food from domestic producers and sends it to pantries nationwide.
The cuts didn’t directly affect One More Child, which gets most of its perishable food from businesses like Publix, Pepperidge Farm and Walmart or directly from growers like Ray & Mascari and Wish Farms.
One More Child clients can shop for free at the onsite market. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow
The shelves at One More Child’s food pantry “market” are rarely full. The organization welcomes donations. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow
The items in highest demand at One More Child are diapers, formula, cleaning supplies and hygiene products. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow
Children can read books and play with toys while their parents shop at One More Child’s market. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow
Dignity and choice
Besides the warehouse that supplies other organizations, One More Child has a market with food, clothing and household items for its own clients.
Those goods also go quickly.
Parrow said about six years ago, the organization changed the way it distributes goods.
Instead of handing people pre-packed boxes of things they might not like, it created a shopping-type experience where families could choose what they want.
“It’s more work on our end, but there’s more dignity in it,” he said.
Volunteers are needed to help sort and stock items. Groups are welcome to visit and work together making “backpack meals.” Learn more here.
Insight Polk examines community conditions and solutions in six target areas from UCIndicators.org: economic & employment opportunity, education, housing, food security, transportation & infrastructure, and quality of life.
LkldNow’s Insight Polk independent reporting is made possible by the United Community Indicators Project with funding by GiveWell Community Foundation & United Way of Central Florida. All editorial decisions are made by LkldNow.
Cindy's reporting for LkldNow focuses on Lakeland city government. Previously, she was a crime reporter, City Hall reporter and chief political writer for newspapers including the Albuquerque Journal and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. She spent a year as a community engagement coordinator for the City of Lakeland before joining LkldNow in 2023. Reach her at cindy@lkldnow.com or 561-212-3429.
