One out of six adults and one out of four children in North Florida don't know when they will have their next meal.
To help alleviate that situation, Second Harvest Food Bank of North Florida distributed more than 24 million pounds of food this year to people in need in North Florida, according to Second Harvest Executive Director Bruce Ganger.
To help provide resources to collect, sort, warehouse and deliver the food, more than 1,000 people gathered Tuesday at the Prime Osborn Convention Center for the 29th annual "Empty Bowls Luncheon," Second Harvest's major fundraiser each year.
For a $30 donation, guests had a simple meal of bread, soup and fruit. Ganger said each donation would provide 210 meals through the food bank and its network of more than 400 nonprofit partners in 17 North Florida counties.
More than 340,000 people received food from the bank in the past year.
"Hunger is a real issue right here in the bountiful United States of America. We are surrounded by hunger every day," said Ganger. "This is our community's problem and only we as a community can solve it. Together, we can move families out of the darkness and struggle of hunger."
The event was presented by Bank of America and Winn-Dixie.
For more information about Second Harvest Food Bank, visit wenourishhope.org.
(904) 356-2466