The Volunteer Way Food Bank is having problems finding food for our many food pantries that come to us for food plus the 7,000 families in Pasco County that come to our Food Bank for assistance. Each week we receive 40,000 to 80,000 pounds of food and we run out of food by Thursday. We are receiving food from as far as Massachusetts and Pennsylvania and still cannot meet the ever growing need for food.

In our five year business plan, we expect to be distributing 10,000,000 pounds of food by 2010. We expect to be opening more food banks in Florida so other hunger relief organizations can have food to distribute in their communities.

This is very ambitious and to tell you the truth, very scarey, but we serve an Awesome God and all things are possible through Him that directs our path. We started this ministry in 1992 with $35.00 and three volunteers and until two years ago The Volunteer Way was an all volunteer charity. Today we have one full time (my assistant) and one part time (warehouse forman) employee and 130 volunteers. Last year we distributed between 6,000,000 and 6,500,000 pounds of food to 70 food pantries and soup kitchens plus 7,000 families in Pasco County, all free of any fees. "WE SERVE AN AWESOME GOD."

HOW WILL WE DO ALL THIS?

This sounds almost impossible, but what we have already accomplished, some would call impossible. Things are bad now, it is getting very difficult to find food for our food bank. Within a year it will be a lot more difficult to find food for the 17,000 families we are now assisting with food throughout Florida.

One of the ways we are going to bring more food into our food bank is by partnering with other hunger relief charities to purchase food from vendors. We already have three large hunger relief charities interested in partnering with us to purchase food for their consumers. With more partners, we will have buying power.

Another source of food for us will be farming, we are starting a farm in the rear of our property, which will be Hydroponic Farms. We have be talking to people that are presently in Hydroponic Farming and they are more then willing to assist us in starting our first farm. This will give us a renewable source of food. After we become knowledgable in Hydroponics, we will start a small farm at our partnering food pantries and soup kitchens, so they will have free vegetables year round.

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE, WE JUST HAVE TO THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX AND WORK TOGETHER FOR THE BETTERMENT OF OUR COMMUNITY.

Let's all work together to help the less fortunate of our society, remember "but by the grace of God, there go I". If we are in charities that serve less fortunate people, let's try to make all our decisions with COMPASSION for the people we serve. If anyone wants more information, please feel free to contact us and we will be more then willing to share any information that we have.

Be Blessed,
Lester