Some Polk County Families Face Hunger After Hurricane Food Spoilage

Recovering from a hurricane is stressful for everyone. But for those living paycheck to paycheck, there are extra difficulties.

Even before Hurricane Milton appeared on weather radars, 13.7% of Polk County residents were considered “food insecure” — experiencing times each month when they’d run out of food or have to choose between paying bills or buying groceries.

For them, having to throw out spoiled food after days without power was especially painful.

“It was really a kick to the gut,” said a 61-year-old man who went to a food distribution event Thursday hosted by the Junior League of Greater Lakeland. “I can’t just go to the store and replace everything.”

The man, who asked not to be named, and his wife received hot dinners, a bag of toiletries and several boxes of meals-ready-to-eat.

Volunteers distributed boxes of food and water from pallets that Polk County requested from the state of Florida. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow

Each food box included 12 different meals-ready-to-eat with the Department of Defense logo on them. MREs included a variety of meals like spaghetti, beef tacos, chicken and noodles and pizza. Each ration includes a drink, snack, main course, dessert and one-time use heating packet. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow

The event was a collaboration of the Junior League, United Way of Central Florida, Salvation Army, One More Child, Polk County Emergency Management and The Freedom Tour. The organizations assembled eight pallets of food and eight pallets of water. The Salvation Army prepared 200 hot meals.

Extra SNAP benefits

About 74% of the roughly 101,170 people in Polk County who are “food insecure” qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — although not all are enrolled.

Current SNAP recipients who lost food due to Hurricane Milton have until Saturday to apply for food replacement benefits. The extra benefits are not automatic.

Mobile home communities hit particularly hard

Hurricane Milton hit mobile home communities particularly hard, with several experiencing intense flooding.

Richard Armstrong, 71, and Linda Tucker, 68, said they were lucky water didn’t enter their mobile home near Crystal Lake. “It got up to the yard,” Armstrong said.

But the pair estimated that they lost $700 to $800 worth of food, including a lot of frozen meat.

Richard Armstrong, 71, and Linda Tucker, 68, were grateful to receive boxes of ready-to-eat meals after losing $700-$800 worth of food during the power outage. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow

Rose Barnes, 49, and her sister-in-law Amber Boucher, 36, said it’s been a struggle to feed their combined household of 12 people since losing at least $500 worth of food they had in their fridge and deep freezer.

“It’s just me and her spouse working, so our income is real tight,” Barnes said.

The storm filled their home near Ewell and County Line roads with 6 to 8 inches of water and knocked out their power for two days. They said the water has receded and things are drying out now, but they’re having to wash all every article of clothing and bedding.

“We’re hitting up all the food drives we can,” Barnes said, as volunteers put boxes in her trunk.

Volunteers in Service to the Elderly (VISTE)

Hurricane Milton arrived during the one week a month that clients of Volunteers in Service to the Elderly who are able to drive can go to the organization’s headquarters at 1232 Magnolia St. and pick up supplemental groceries. Others have food delivered by volunteers.

President Steve Bisonnette said VISTE called the clients who usually pick up their food last week and said, “Come early if you can,” but many couldn’t make it. Once the organization reopened, those with the least damage were able to come.

But Bisonnette said volunteers are still reaching out to the more than 4,500 people ages 70 to 108 who VISTE serves to find out how they are doing after the storm.

“We’re starting now to see people that are just getting their power back,” Bisonnette said. “Most of them did OK, but obviously some of these mobile home parks and low-lying areas … we do have clients who are still stranded. Some are saying they were completely wiped out.”

VISTE isn’t an emergency relief organization. It serves clients year round, most of whom are 79 or older and live on $28,380 a year or less. However, administrative assistant Dilsey Cassel said there was a big spike in calls on Tuesday from people asking for help.

“It’s normal on a given day for us to take four or five applications,” Cassel said. But on Tuesday, “it really spiked. I betcha we had 10 up here … probably more. We were just inundated.”

Cassel said not everyone who called was the right age or lived in the right area, but they helped as many as they could. The rest, they referred to other organizations.

Local food pantries

In addition to calling 2-1-1, there are several organizations that host weekly food pantries. Reach out to the organization directly for more information.

Lakes Church, 1010 E Memorial Blvd, which has a food pantry on Tuesdays and Wednesdays by appointment and community dinner on Tuesdays at 6 p.m.

Blessings and Hope Food Pantry, 2150 E. Edgewood Dr., 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Tuesday. Check-in is required in the parking lot at 4730 Lakeland Highlands Road, across from Highland Park Church.

Dream Center and Moving Hope food distribution, 635 W 5th St. Register at the Dream Center pavilion Tuesdays at 4 p.m. Choose groceries from the shopping line between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. After the first time, participants must earn vouchers by attending a class or prayer session.

Believer’s Fellowship food pantry, 5240 N. Socrum Loop Rd, on Mondays at 11 a.m. and Thursdays at 4:30 p.m in the Youth Hall.

Harmony Missionary Baptist Church, 1645 N. Webster Ave., has a food pantry on Tuesdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aid is limited; families can access the pantry once per month.

Crystal Lake Elementary School, 700 Galvin Drive, every first and third Wednesday at 4:30 p.m

Pilgrim Rest Free Will Baptist Church, 1052 N Kettles Ave., every first and third Monday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Agape Mission Market, St. Joseph Multi-Ministry Service Center, 210 W. Lemon St. on Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Shepherd Road Presbyterian Church Food Pantry, 1217 Shepherd Road, Wednesdays from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

There are disaster-specific food distributions and more food pantry locations listed on the Feeding Tampa Bay website.

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.