F.I.S.H. providing year-round weekend food for youths
F.I.S.H. of Sanibel-Captiva battles food insecurity from all angles with various meal programs, including its Food Pantry, Meals-by-FISH hot meal delivery and Backpack Program, which provides weekly food for school-aged children. The program is designed to battle hunger by offering nutritious weekend food and extra snacks for youths year-round, including for summer and school breaks.
“Last year we began to see a large increase in requests to participate in the Backpack Program due to the additional strain the COVID crisis put on food insecure families,” Executive Director Alicia Tighe Orgera said. “Those that rely on meals provided by their children’s schools — it’s an extra two meals per day, per child — really struggled with the extra expense.”
Last year, F.I.S.H. distributed 1,974 food backpacks to children, an increase of 70 percent over 2019. It is continuing to see increased participation through the first quarter of this year, according to officials.
“The Kiwanis Club of Sanibel and Captiva have been incredible in providing F.I.S.H. with emergency funding for our kids backpack program,” she said. “Thanks to Kiwanis, since last spring we have been providing almost twice as much food in the backpacks, as well as providing ingredients and recipe cards for a meal that families can cook together that is fresh, healthy and kid-friendly.”
F.I.S.H. continues to proactively modify programs, including food backpacks, to meet the changing needs of clients.
“Many of our clients still have not returned to full ‘season’ work hours, where they make the bulk of their annual income,” Tighe said. “Typically our meal programs are intended to be supplemental to household groceries, but we’ve realized that, due to COVID and the economic strains it has placed on many that use F.I.S.H. services, these programs may be the vast majority of food brought into the home.”
The Backpack Program is offered at no cost to participants. All backpacks contain protein, fruits and vegetables, snacks, breakfast cereal, soup and/or a pasta meal, milk and juice, and are occasionally enhanced with a sweet treat. F.I.S.H. also includes organic and vegetarian choices. Parents pick up the food bags Monday through Friday between 10 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. at the Walk-In Center on Sanibel.
For more information, visit www.fishofsancap.org or contact Assistant Executive Director Maria Espinoza at 239-472-4775.