ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – In just the past few weeks, some big names in Central Florida announced major layoffs, which puts a new pinch on area drive-thru food pantries.
Greg Higgerson serves as the chief development officer at Second Harvest Food Bank, where they’re still handing out around 300,000 meals a day, which is about double their pre-pandemic workload.
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“It’s the line of cars that tell us the real story out there,” he said. “I wish I could tell you that (300,000 meals is) enough. There’s still a gap that needs to be met there. As we go into the holidays, I expect it only gets bigger."
News 6 watched as the line for a food giveaway at the Islamic Society of Central Florida weaved through the neighborhood on a Tuesday morning, seven months after the pandemic began.
Drive-Through Food Pantry demand continuesIn case you haven't seen it in awhile -- this is what the line looks like at an Orlando drive-through food pantry on a Tuesday morning.....
Posted by Clay LePard News 6 on Tuesday, October 6, 2020
The novelty of these drives wore off a long time ago and Higgerson told News 6 no vaccine will cure this looming long-term need.
“We’re not concerned but we want to make sure that people do remember there’s an economic tail to this that we will continue to need more support than we did prior to March,” he said. “It will be felt for a long time after the disease is taken care of.”
A Coronavirus Disaster Relief account has been set up at Second Harvest Food Bank and you can donate here.