ORLANDO, Fla. — Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida is jumping into action by not only helping communities in the Tampa Bay and Big Bend areas but also people in Georgia affected by Hurricane Helene.

It’s trucks and forklifts that are helping pack and drive food to storm-struck areas in Florida and neighboring states as they recover from the storm.

“One in eight people need help with food here in Central Florida, and because of that it’s like a disaster for them all the time,” said Greg Higgerson, chief development officer for Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. “But you layer a storm on top of that and that throws everything off. We’re trying to get as much product in those areas that we can.” 

So far, Second Harvest has donated more than 100,000 pounds of food to neighboring communities in need.

“People who are already struggling before the storm hit are going to be worse off now, that’s really what that means,” said Higgerson. “Their need isn’t going to be 24, 48, 72 hours. It’s going to be weeks or even months to get back on their feet. But as a community, we step up and try to make that happen.”

Second Harvest leaders told Spectrum News that people wanting to donate can contact groups like Feeding Tampa Bay and Second Harvest of the Big Bend.