Farm Share, Florida’s largest food bank, recently highlighted the progress of its partnership with BITAC, J.M. Smucker, and Molina Healthcare of Florida at the BITAC HEALTHTAC conference in Amelia Island, Florida. This partnership provides essential financial support to expand the reach of Farm Share’s mission, enabling the independent non-profit to distribute over 140,000 meals to food-insecure Floridians.
A key feature of this partnership is the popular BITAC Peanut Butter & Jelly Challenge. This challenge is a sandwich-making event sponsored by J.M. Smucker. These events, integral to BITAC gatherings, produce between 800 and 1,000 sandwiches each challenge. To date approximately 25,000 sandwiches have been crafted to help feed food-insecure Floridians in the community they are hosting their event in.
The sandwiches are provided to individuals and families in need through Farm Share partnerships, such as the one with Molina Healthcare of Florida. “Through this initiative, we’ve helped more than 15 organizations, either directly or through partners like Molina, which helps deliver our aid to places we might not otherwise reach,” said Stephen Shelley, CEO of Farm Share.
In the last fiscal year, Farm Share distributed nearly 100 million pounds of food, reflecting the scale of its impact in combating hunger across Florida.
Farm Share’s partnership with BITAC, J.M. Smucker, and Molina Healthcare of Florida highlights a collective dedication to ending food insecurity. “The economic climate has exacerbated the struggle for so many Floridians, and we couldn’t be more thankful for our partners’ support. Each event brings us a step closer to a world where no one has to face hunger,” said Shelley.
About Farm Share
Established in 1991, Farm Share started the innovative concept of retrieving unused food from Florida farms and redistributing it to those in need. Operations began in Homestead and have expanded to serve the entire state of Florida as a homegrown food bank. Farm Share is the largest independent food bank in the state and third largest in the nation, and was recently named America’s No. 1 Food Bank by Wall Street 24/7. The nonprofit organization focuses on fighting food insecurity in Florida while simultaneously reducing food waste from local farms. The Farm Share team redistributes fresh fruits and vegetables from Florida farmers to benefit neighborhoods and communities in need throughout all 67 counties in Florida. To learn more about Farm Share, visit www.farmshare.org.
