When it comes to Feeding Northeast Florida, "The work is Infinite."

You may not know that a food bank and a food pantry are not the same thing. While food pantries are where people in need can go to receive food, regional food banks like Feeding Northeast Florida are logistical operations that power the food pantries and make sure they get the food and supplies they need. 

The youngest food bank in the Feeding America network, Feeding Northeast Florida was founded in 2014 and serves a 12-county area with 500 business partners in Northeast Florida. 

In North Florida, there are 270,000 people unsure where their next meal will come from, which is “enough to fill the Jaguars stadium four times over,” according to the website. Single mothers face a 24% food insecurity rate, and 1 in 12 seniors nationwide are considered food insecure. 

The nonprofit works tirelessly to fill empty bellies. In 2023, the company distributed 33 million pounds of food, which is roughly the equivalent weight of 131 cruise ships. In 2024, the headquarters moved into a new 110,000-square-foot warehouse, which allows them to expand services even more. 

“We do a lot with rescued food,” said Vice President of Philanthropy Jackie Culver. “That’s food that has a sell or freeze-by date. When stores can’t sell it fresh, they freeze it and donate it to us. For statistics, 65% of the food we distribute is fresh, like produce and meat. It’s not that [common[ thought of day-old bread and mac and cheese.” 

This crucial community work is the reason Feeding Northeast Florida was chosen as the June recipient of funds from Atlantic Cares, the charity arm of Atlantic Logistics. 

A significant amount of Feeding Northeast Florida’s work is done by volunteers, with 16,000 volunteer hours donated in 2024. Volunteers sort food from massive pallets of produce, check for freshness and pack them into bags. Any produce that isn’t usable is collected for pig farmers to feed pigs. 

Culver stressed that because the organization gets so much food donated from large entities, one dollar equates to six full meals, so it’s actually more impactful for regular citizens to donate dollars than canned goods. 

“We are grateful for the people who do food drives, but by donating a dollar you can give so much more,” she said. “Think about it, if you spend six dollars on a box of cereal, you won’t get six meals. We can do a lot with this.”

Feeding Northeast Florida has big plans for the future, including breaking ground on a commercial kitchen to begin workforce development culinary programs with Goodwill. This will allow the nonprofit to distribute meals as well as raw ingredients, which can help single mothers and other folks strapped for time. A teaching garden is also in the works, meant not to distribute food but to teach about where food comes from and to provide seeds to schools. The gardens will also allow Feeding Northeast Florida to host farm-to-table fundraising dinners.

“I grew up poor on a farm, and back in my day, farm-to-table was for poor people,” Culver said “Now it’s all the rage. And from a nutritional value, knowing what’s in your food is important, and supporting local farmers is important too.” 

People can get involved with Feeding Northeast Florida by becoming volunteers or joining the recurring donor program at a $10 a month (or more) level. For those in need of food assistance, there is no pre-qualification necessary. A simple search under the “find food” tab will come up with food banks by location, where individuals and families can find sustenance. 

“Our goal is to get as much food and education into the region as possible,” Culver said. “The work is infinite.” 

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