The homeless population often is the most hungry on Mondays, after the long weekend when many food banks are closed.
For months, Central Florida Hope Center Executive Director Brian Tipps has been trying to find a solution to that issue as local leaders of different groups asked the Hope Center to help.
Finally, the idea clicked: a mobile meal service program that would run every Friday, and include fresh meals and necessities to get individuals and families in need through the weekend.
Soon after, Tipps began reaching out to organizations and businesses to make the initiative come to fruition.
West Orange Junior Service League’s Carmen Love and Bonnie DiCocco were the first to help.
They gifted $20,000 to the Central Florida Hope Center so it could operate the service for two years.
Beyond the West Orange Junior Service League’s generosity, the Rotary Club of Windermere contributed to making this initiative a reality. Not only did the club donate $2,000 toward the purchase of a commercial upright cooler, but also, member Anne Scharer donated a fully equipped and customized mobile food service trailer.
“Everybody wants to see our neighbors blessed and served and go from desperation to hope,” Tipps said. “That’s what we’re doing.”
While the funding for the actual trailer was finalized, funding for the food still was a necessity to roll out the program.
AdventHealth gifted a $10,000 grant to the nonprofit to purchase food, which will come from Second Harvest Food Bank, for the first few months of operation.
The mobile meal service program will begin operations Friday, Oct. 23, at the Orlando House of Prayer in Ocoee. It will offer food such as sandwiches, chips, pasta, rice, fruits and anything else volunteers want to cook.
Besides offering meals every Friday, the Hope Center also will provide essential items, such as dry goods, fruit cups, peanut butter, toothbrushes, toothpaste, socks, hand sanitizer, shirts and other items the nonprofit is able to provide.
The goal is to ensure the most vulnerable are introduced to programs and services that will help them succeed.
Through the mobile meal service program, Tipps hopes to connect individuals and families to other resources the Central Florida Hope Center has to offer, such as job opportunities, the food pantry, mental health and drug counseling, immigration services and life skills.
“What we’re trying to do is empower people and move people more from struggling to stability, both with food insecurity and the other insecurities they may have,” Tipps said.
The goal is to expand and go where help is needed.
In the near future, Tipps hopes for a generous land donation to better serve the community and expand its services to offer housing, showers and laundry services.
To the Central Florida Hope Center, its partners and volunteers, delivering hope is more than just offering food services.
“We want to be the living room of the community,” he said. “All those basic things that people need — they can come to one place and get those needs. … It’s about all of us coming together as a village to serve the most vulnerable.”
Dining and Cooking