Volunteers pack 126,000 meals in Central Florida food bank in 24 hours

ORLANDO, Fla. — Second Harvest of Central Florida Food Bank took on a first-of-its-kind challenge, staying open for 24 hours straight to fight hunger in the community.

“I started volunteering here in 2016,” said Alfred Delio, a longtime Second Harvest volunteer.

At four o’clock in the morning, while most of Central Florida is asleep, Delio was already stacking boxes inside the food bank.

“It makes me feel good inside. I feel like I’ve accomplished something,” he said.

Delio was one of more than 300 volunteers who signed up for shifts during the relief marathon, called Hunger Never Sleeps. Beginning at 8 a.m. on Friday, teams rotated every three hours, sorting, packing, and sealing food boxes with the goal of creating 100,000 meals.

“It’s making such a positive impact on lives in Central Florida. We’re feeding hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens every ship. It’s almost biblical. Multiplying the efforts of our volunteers here,” Delio said.

Second Harvest’s President and CEO, Derrick Chubbs, emphasized that the event was about more than just numbers.

“1 in 7 Central Floridians do not know where their next meal is coming from. 1 in 6 are children that are food insecure. We just want to be here to try to bridge that gap,” Chubbs said.

Organizers also highlighted the significance of the 24-hour effort.

“In 43 years of the food bank’s history, we’ve never been open overnight. For the community to step forward with that ask is pretty significant,” Chubbs said.

As the final hours ticked down, Delio said the lack of sleep was worth it, because the impact would last long after the lights turned off.

“I really want to be a part of that. It sounds amazing,” he said.

Second Harvest exceeded its original goal, packing 126,000 meals that will soon be distributed to families across Central Florida.