Urban League hands out 2,400 food packages for needy county families

WEST PALM BEACH — Volunteers with the Urban League of Palm Beach County distributed about 2,400 bags of groceries to needy families in three different cities Saturday during the league's second annual Summer Back-to-School Food Drive.

County families in West Palm Beach, Delray Beach, and Belle Glade took home boxes packed with kitchen essentials such as bread, peanut butter and jelly, fresh bananas and apples, and also rice, beans and chicken.

“Parents are deciding between food, new clothes and school supplies and everything else,” said Patrick Franklin, the CEO of the Urban League of Palm Beach County, who was at the West Palm Beach site Saturday. “We don’t want our kids going to school or to go to bed hungry.”

Around 132,000 residents struggle with hunger around the county and 38,000 of those are children who don’t eat enough on a daily basis, according to the Palm Beach County Food Bank.

Franklin said a lot of parents are struggling to keep up with the rising costs of housing, gas, services and groceries. He added their salaries haven't increased at the same rate as inflation and some for some, price tags in the supermarket are still too high.

“We still pay more than $4 for a dozen eggs,” Franklin said. “As prices are going up, their income is not going up.”

How food prices have increased

The federal government said Thursday that food prices, which have pressured Americans' budgets for more than two years, rose a mild 0.2% from June to July. Eggs, meat, beer and dairy products all declined in price, though food is still up 4.9% over the past 12 months, the Associated Press reported.

A steady line of cars snaked outside of the University Preparatory Academy on Saturday, along West Palm Beach’s North Australian Avenue, from 7 a.m. until almost noon. Parents and grandparents speaking English, Spanish and Creole waved as they pulled down their windows to greet volunteers.

Danielle, a mother of four, drove in with her three children in the back seat.

To some, she said, it might seem like just a box of food, but it goes a long way in her home. She will prepare peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for her children, slice them fresh fruits for snacks and cook pasta for dinner.

“This will feed my kids for almost a week,” said Danielle, who preferred not to give her last name. “It’s a blessing after all I’ve spent on getting them ready for school.”

Nadine, a West Palm Beach resident, walked four blocks under a blazing sun holding her 6-year-old daughter in one hand and a wire cart on the other. She works at a senior living facility but says it is getting harder every month to make ends meet.

“I can cut our expenses on almost everything else. Not groceries,” said Nadine, who also declined to provide her last name.

“I’ll eat bread if I have to. But the girls need healthy meals to learn and grow strong," she said in Spanish.

Ana, a high school sophomore, waited with her mother Lucia inside the car while volunteers loaded two boxes of fresh and frozen groceries in the trunk. She said they would deliver one to her grandmother and head home to cook yellow rice and chicken with the other.

“This food will help my mom get a break,” said Ana, squeezing her mom’s arm. “She is always worried (whether) we have enough in the fridge.”

Angela Powell, who helped packed bags of groceries in West Palm Beach, said she saw people from all walks of life, nationalities and ages at the food drive.

“Everyone is so, so grateful,” said Powell. “With the food, if they have nothing else in the house, they at least have something to start their day.”

The Urban League also handed out food Saturday at Hand Park in Belle Glade, and Pompey Park in Delray Beach.

Valentina Palm covers Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, Loxahatchee and other western communities in Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post. Email her at vpalm@pbpost.com and follow her on Twitter at @ValenPalmB. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Urban League hosts back-to-school food drive, serves hundreds