Second Harvest of the Big Bend Fact Sheet
Name: Second Harvest of the Big Bend (SHBB)
Description:
Second Harvest is a not-for-profit food recovery and distribution food bank dedicated to reducing hunger and malnutrition; we function as the warehouse for millions of pounds of food and other products that go out to the community. We are a member of Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger relief organization, with 203-member food banks, and Feeding Florida, a statewide association of 12 Feeding America member food banks.
History:
- Established as Food Bank of Tallahassee at Temple Baptist Church in 1982, distributing prepared and perishable foods
- In 1986, joined America’s Second Harvest—the nation’s food bank network—now called Feeding America
- In the early 1990’s, Second Harvest operated from 7,000 square-foot warehouse in Market Place
- In the late 1990’s, SHBB expanded its service area and opened branch warehouses in Panama City and in Madison County
- In 2000, SHBB doubled warehouse space to 15,000 feet
- In 2001, SHBB distributed a then record 2.3 million pounds of food
- In 2010, Second Harvest moved to a 31,000 square foot facility
- In 2015, SHBB moved to its current, 40,000 square foot facility
- In 2020, SHBB distributed a record 15.3 million pounds of food
- In 2022, Second Harvest will celebrate a 40-year anniversary
Address: 4446 Entrepot Blvd., Tallahassee, FL 32310
Facility: 41,000 square foot warehouse, with 12,000 feet of cooler/freezer space
Leadership:
Monique Van Pelt, Chief Executive Officer
Mindy Sollisch, Chief Operations Officer
James McGowan, Chief Development Officer
Jacob Reiter, Chief Administrative Officer
Arun Dhanarajan, Chief Financial Officer
Mission: To advance change by feeding the hungry and educating and engaging the community in the fight to end hunger.
Contact:
Phone: 850-562-3033
FAX: 850-562-6176
Website: www.fightinghunger.org
Email: info@fightinghunger.org
Service Area: Our Feeding America service area is 9,000 square miles and includes 11 counties: Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Jackson, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Taylor, Wakulla.
Additionally, under contract with other north Florida food banks, we serve five more counties: Columbia, Dixie, Hamilton, Lafayette, Suwanee.
2021 SHBB Fleet Miles Drive: 127,475 (more than five trips around the Earth!)
2021 Largest Single-Day Distribution: 159,022 pounds
SHBB Employees: 38
Tax ID: 59-2610345
Food Distribution:
In 2021, Second Harvest food bank distributed 13,852,253 pounds of food and other vital resources to the community.
Our primary activity is food distribution through a network of 130+ Partner Agencies—food pantries which are community partners and serve as the arms for our food bank and distribute food directly to the community.
We also conduct mobile food distributions in partnership with a community partner/organization, including neighborhood-level distributions in underserved areas.
We also distribute food through Programs designed to serve specific populations (children, seniors, homeless, etc.); which are funded by donations, grants and/or state and federal funding.
People Served in 2021 through Second Harvest Programs:
- Backpack Program: 11,000 adolescents served
- Summer Feeding Program: 415 adolescents served
- After School Program: 80 adolescents served
- Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP): 1,650 seniors served
- Senior Grocery Program: 1,200 seniors served
Poverty in the Big Bend:
2020 United Way of Florida ALICE Report (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed):
ALICE households are “the working poor.” They earn above the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), but not enough to afford basic household necessities and too much to qualify for federal assistance programs. In 2020, the FPL was $26,200 for a four-person household; $21,720 for a three-person household, and $17,240 for a two-person household.
- 37% of Big Bend households struggle to make ends meet and are in the ALICE population, including 36,000 children
- These individuals and families live paycheck-to-paycheck; often not earning enough to cover essential expenses like food, rent, utilities and medicine
| ALICE Households in the Big Bend | |
| Calhoun | 46% |
| Franklin | 35% |
| Gadsden | 36% |
| Gulf | 44% |
| Jackson | 37% |
| Jefferson | 34% |
| Leon | 30% |
| Liberty | 51% |
| Madison | 32% |
| Taylor | 39% |
| Wakulla | 27% |