After a disaster like Hurricane Ian, it takes a coordinated effort, but many nonprofits get help where it's needed most.
That effort includes the statewide nonprofit Feeding Florida, which works locally with Feeding Tampa but also with the state of Florida.
"We immediately have all food banks, all 12 of them, on a call at 9 o'clock in the morning. We're assessing what their inventories look like, what their agency partners are doing, what they're seeing on the ground and what their anticipated needs might be in the way of trucks, staffing, as well as food, you know, there's a lot that goes into to ramping up," Robin Safley, Executive Director of Feeding Florida, said.
Feeding Florida supports food banks that serve all 67 counties in Florida.
"So in a situation where not all of our food banks right are activated, if you will, they don't have a county that is a disaster, they turn into support. They're obviously still serving their clients and the neighbors that they serve year-round. But they also now become storage space so that we can then feed things into like a Deeding Tampa Bay, or to an All Faiths food bank, or to Harry Chapin, which is at ground zero in Lee and Charlotte. So we become this team," explained Safley.
Together, hundreds of volunteers and employees are servicing every single impacted area in Florida to make sure they all have what they need.
Safley explained,"So if you don't have electricity, you're you do not want your fresh fruits and vegetables, etc. So we need to make sure that we're keeping that inventory diverse, that we're meeting the needs of the people where they are."
And they aren't going to stop any time soon.
"We are used to this. Our system, our food banks are going to be there. And we will be there for the long haul when the dust settles and there's still a high need. We will ensure that everyone has access to the best of our ability and make sure that our footprint is big enough to meet that need for the long haul. I just want people to know that. We're not going to forget," said Safley.