DUNEDIN, Fla. — A Dunedin non-profit to help bridge a gap among families in the community.
Food. It's a growing need here, and Dunedin Cares helps those who need it in Dunedin, Clearwater, and Palm Harbor.
The organization started inside the small room of a local church back in 2015. Now, they're using a 2,400-square-foot double-wide trailer and still need more space as they try to keep up with demand.
WATCH Dunedin Cares works to help bridge a gap in growing community
"Many of these people who come and need assistance from us, some of them work, some of them are veterans. Some of them are—many of them are seniors. Some of them are seniors raising their grandkids," Kristina Garcia, executive director of Dunedin Cares, said. "There's a lot of different situations that are going on right now."
Garcia said the need for food doesn't discriminate and can happen to anyone at any time, especially with the rising cost of living.
Last year, Dunedin Cares gave out more than 600,000 pounds of food.
Families can visit every four weeks. They are open Mondays from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. Each person leaves with about 65 pounds of food.
"We pride ourselves on being able to allow our families to take home, really, the building blocks that they need to make meals for their families, and not just giving them bags of items that they might not be able to use or they don't really make up full meals," Garcia said. "We do give our families kids meals so they get bags to go for each child that's in their home, be it a grandchild or a foster child, that contains breakfast or lunch and dinner items that the child can use, so that they have a little bit of an individual snack bag that's packed for them."
Garcia said Dunedin Cares relies on a lot of partnerships they have with those in the community as well. Madison Avenue Pizza donates its paper products, while Dunedin Pet Supply helps with pet food. Many other organizations also make this possible.
Dunedin Cares is also looking for more space to meet the growing demand they face.
You can donate online or reach out to Dunedin Cares through their website to find out how you can help.
They also face lower donations in the summer because many of the snowbirds go home.
