SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. — Thousands in Southwest Florida are still picking up the pieces following Hurricane Ian. Many are relying on local food banks to get the supplies they need for their families. In Sarasota County, All Faiths Food Bank is one of the largest food and water suppliers in Southwest Florida after Ian.
“I think for a while most of us were in shock and then it came in layers as to how many people were really affected by the storm,” said the CEO of All Faiths Food Bank, Sandra Frank. “We had people here 24/7 at the height of the storm. Another group over at the emergency operations center and then after 10 days you realize just how exhausted you were, but they kept going.”
The food bank makes donation runs every single day to some of the hardest-hit areas. Sandra told ABC Action News they are in full recovery mode status. They have trucks going out 9 to 10 hours a day to get food into the community. It is all thanks to volunteers like Matt and Amy Haab, who helped on the food front lines from the start.
“There's still a lot of cleanup and a lot of things that need to be done,” explained Amy.
“To think that we're this far out and there's still this much cleanup going on and destruction and people in need it is a little mind-boggling,” said Matt.
85% of the food at All Faiths Food Bank comes from donations, which have not been easy to come by as people's budgets tighten. Thanks to your donations ABC Action News was able to surprise All Faiths Food Bank to help continue their mission. We presented them with a $10,000 donation which will help bring comfort in a time of crisis.