ORLANDO, Fla. – After spending several years at a different location, the Soldiers’ Angels monthly food giveaway is back at the Lake Baldwin VA Clinic location.
Veterans at Friday’s food giveaway said the food provided helps them make ends meet for the month.
“You know, it helped me budget when it comes to food because some time to come, a little short,” said Marine Corps veteran Dexter Jenkins. “They help me get through.”
Soldiers’ Angels held its first food giveaway back on the Lake Baldwin VA campus on Friday. United States Navy Veteran, David Gibson said the food giveaway is a fabulous resource for veterans.
[TRENDING: Become a News 6 Insider]
“Well, I’m a very limited income just on social security,” Gibson said. “And so, this goes a long way to not only helping me but also the others in the house.”
Hundreds of cars lined up for Friday’s food giveaway. Jenkins said it’s wonderful to see food drives like this.
“It’s lovely,” Jenkins said. “With these food prices today, it’s a tremendous help.”
Navy veteran Warren Lee said that after a recent open-heart surgery, the food giveaways are very important to him.
“It’s giving me groceries that I wouldn’t otherwise have,” Lee said.
Director of Field Operations for Soldiers’ Angels Vicki Sarracino said they’re happy to be back hosting their food drives on the Lake Baldwin VA campus.
“It was just a little bit of a challenge back then with the location that we were out in traffic,” Sarracino said. “So that caused us to go off again. We always wanted to come back, and we heard that they’d be happy to have us. So, I mean, it happened within a month or so. It was like, boom, boom, boom. Here we are.”
David Madeux used to work with Soldiers’ Angels and now works for the VA clinic. He played a big part in bringing the food drive back to the Lake Baldwin campus.
“It makes it easier for them to get to and from, because a lot of our veterans live near this campus, especially our older veterans, before they built the Lake Nona campus,” Madeux said.
Madeux is an Army veteran and said being able to give back to his fellow servicemembers means a lot to him.
“I’ve always been someone who likes to help people,” Madeux said. “So being able to be in a position like this is — I don’t see it as a job. It’s more of a hobby.”
If you’d like to learn more about how to register for the Soldiers’ Angels food distribution, click here. If you’d like to volunteer or donate to the VA to contribute to a Soldiers’ Angels food giveaway, click here.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: