In 2019, more than 10 million children in our country struggled with hunger. These are children in our own counties, our kids classmates, our neighbors. While we hear about it on television, we see the numbers, we hear the statistics, sometimes we do not realize just how close and how common this issue is, how close it is to home.
I was able to sit down with Gina Stanford , Miss. Gina as her community knows her, founder of Hummingbird Pantry in Titusville to discuss her AMAZING mission, and how she is helping combat hunger in our community!
In 2012 Miss. Gina was volunteering with the VPK program at what was at the time Riverview Elementary school. She was called to assist with feeding the children breakfast, and on this particular morning the children seemed to be extremely hungry. Miss. Gina was puzzled as to why they were so hungry, the director of the program replied with the fact they had just returned from the Thanksgiving break. When we think of Thanksgiving we think of a holiday with a big meal and time spent with family. Miss. Gina inquired again, to which her director replied “ many of these children haven't eaten since Tuesday”. You see, many children receive their meals from school, and when school released for the holiday on Tuesday, while so many would be enjoying a holiday meal at home, many more would spend the next several days without adequate food. It was at that moment Miss. Gina vowed she wanted to make sure that never happened again.
One month later, she started her mission with holiday meal gift baskets serving 45 families. For the next 3 years she provided holiday meal baskets for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. The number of families provided for continued to grow, and food distribution became weekly, until they were serving aprox. 200 families. After obtaining,and outgrowing their first building , now serving over 500 families,Miss. Gina prayed and was reminded of where her heart for this mission first started, that cafeteria with all those sweet little children. Being as Riverview school had not reopened that year after closing for the summer, she was excited to realize that the space may be available. It was, and in January 2018 Hummingbird moved into the same space that her vision was first started in six years earlier!
Today Hummingbird serves between 6,000 and 7,000 families each week, distributing, depending on how many tucks arrive that day, an average of 150 to 180 thousand pounds of food each week. While hummingbird distributes canned and non-perishable foods like many pantries, about eighty percent of the foods distributed at Hummingbird are fresh fruits, vegetables,some are even organic, some dairy items, and limited meats!
In the past there has been a sort of stigma for those who utilize food pantries. Some people have been thought of lazy, not wishing to work, those who spend their money frivolously, and even accused of looking for a handout. Since Covid, this view is changing. So many people have found themselves in need of help due to no fault of their own. Some have lost their jobs or had a reduction in hours, and even those who remained employed , many of which were living paycheck to paycheck to begin with, are now having to choose between food and bills due to the fact that the prices of food have risen. Having food assistance available, not only helps ends meet, but it also gives a reassurance that you are not alone.
Building on this sense of community, Hummingbird allows families to pick up for others in their own community in need. Most of their clients are families with children and senior citizens. For both of these groups transportation can be a hardship. For families, some of these struggles include not having a vehicle or needing to work during distribution times. For seniors some have medical issues, are not able to drive, or may not be able to drive in the dark when some of the distributions run later. Once the required form is filled out, it is good for an entire year, and clients may pick up for other families when they go through the line. This is truly helping to bring our community together as one, all in the same boat , helping each other where we can!
If you ask most people who have visited, they will tell you Hummingbird is a family, and as in most families, when things get tough, the tough keep going. To keep the joy alive, even in tough times, there is always something extra going on at the pantry. From live music, to school supply giveaways, to even weddings! Yes, you read that right, due to Covid19 so many people had to cancel their weddings due to restrictions and closings of venues. The virus may have stopped the wedding they had planned, but it did not stop the love and commitment they had for each other. So with live music, an officiant, cakes, and a whole lot of community support the drive through weddings commenced, and they were beautiful! One bride even hopped straight into line assisting her community right after her vows were said, wedding dress and all! Hummingbird is not letting the virus stop the kids from enjoying some Halloween trick or treating either. While the CDC has recommended that we do not go trick or treating this year, the pantries founder and volunteers have come up with a safe way for the kids to have some drive through fun instead! Please keep an eye out for details upcoming on our events calendar and our Facebook page!
On another note, as Miss. Gina says, when you are sitting in line, sometimes up to a couple of hours, waiting for food, this gives the negative thoughts time to roll around in your mind. “How am I going to pay that bill, how am I going to pay for Tommy’s new pair of shoes, I’m stuck in the house with my spouse all day and just realized I don't even like them (be honest, sometimes we all can relate to that one!😜). Joking aside, these issues are hard, and it's very tough to get your mind to stop, especially when the world around you does for a moment, and you are sitting in the silence. To help take clients minds off of the negatives, volunteers have placed inspirational signs throughout the path of the car line, each handwritten with a word of encouragement and a cute drawing. This month in remembrance of September 11th flags lines the path, showing that even though we remember that tragic horrific event with sadness, we are still ONE nation, a strong nation. A nation who is in this together and will get through this together!
For those wondering how they can help with this amazing mission, there are many ways. First, volunteering! Many hands make light work, and Hummingbird runs solely on volunteers.
They will find a job for ALL ages and abilities. Even little ones can help bag crackers, or sort small items. Those who can not stand or load can bag items, can collect bags while you're out, or donate bags, there are jobs indoors if you can not be outside. While volunteers come and go in shifts, many days Miss. Gina and a few truly dedicated volunteers arrive at the pantry at 7am and do not leave until around 10, or 11pm. On one distribution day they did not leave the pantry until 2:02am! There is not enough space to store all the food, so every bit is handed out down to that last car, meaning, the fewer the volunteers the longer the night, so your help is very much needed and so very appreciated!! If your child needs volunteer hours for school or sports they can get their hours here and forms signed as well.
What's next for Hummingbird? Big things! While they love their building and it holds so many special memories, as they have grown, they are running out of space. They are in need of a warehouse building that will work for pallets and jacks, and enough land to park thousands of people weekly, as well as equipment needed to be able to store food. As of now they must turn down midweek trucks due to not enough volunteers to unload the trucks , as well as not enough room to store the food until volunteers can be assembled for distribution. To achieve all of this, they must raise approximately 2.5million dollars. If this seems like a huge order, it is, and Miss. Gina found herself praying for confirmation that this was the right plan. Well that confirmation was received one day via a phone call from Lockheed Martin.They recognized her mission and all the good that is being done at Hummingbird and donated 20,000 dollars starting off the new building fund! With that Miss. Gina knew this is the right step for hummingbird, and in October the new building fundraiser will kick off!
We are so thankful to Miss. Gina, and all of Hummingbird pantries volunteers for what they are doing for our community, and are so excited for what is to come for the future of their mission!
Food insecurity is still such an issue for so many, but those helping fight it help bring our community together! If you are in need of assistance during this tough time please follow the links below for locations that provide food assistance in your area! If you would like to help combat hunger in your neighborhood there are links below as well!
Food Assistance Resources
Hummingbirds distribution page
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2579544045611986
United way Brevard food pantry list
Food pantries specific to Titusville Florida
https://titusville.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/NEW-FOOD-PANTRIES-LIST.pdf
211 Brevard food pantry list
https://211brevard.myresourcedirectory.com/index.php/component/cpx/?task=search.query&code=BD
Cocoa and North Brevard Pantries
https://www.foodpantries.org/ci/fl-cocoa
Apply for free or reduced lunch
https://www.brevardschools.org/Page/3473
Apply for food stamps or medicaid
http://www.myflorida.com/accessflorida/
Apply for Wic (Woman, Infants and children provides food packages for Pregnant women, infants, and children up to age 5)
611 North Singleton Avenue,Titusville, FL 32796 321-383-2795
Ways to help!
Food Donations are always a help! Please reach out to your local pantry to donate food items! Diapers formula, and hygiene items are always needed as well.
Volunteer at hummingbird: https://volunteersignup.org/YLA3C?fbclid=IwAR0vVuZGV_kV6N82pwwzsDbB6Yx3B6gflPqvow3Tehx90elv-bw8fDzzaS0
Donate to hummingbird :
https://www.hummingbirdpantry.org/donate funds to continue running pantry
New building fund!
Donate to feeding america : https://secure.feedingamerica.org/site/Donation2?df_id=28150&mfc_pref=T&28150.donation=form1&s_src=Y20YP1B1Z&s_subsrc=c&s_keyword=donate%20to%20feeding%20america&&gclid=Cj0KCQjwtsv7BRCmARIsANu-CQc-GD_G-WjP4QFNGjRlV_Kstxrv6GLJhTufCj9-Tq-H5CIInkcAWeUaAomPEALw_wcB
