Feeding South Florida asks for support as organization faces federal funding cuts

Feeding South Florida is looking for encouragement to ensure families don t go hungry as the organization faces steep federal funding cuts in the coming days and months The organization stated they are preparing for a key setback the loss of million in federal SNAP-Ed funding that will end Sept Following that setback they also expect to lose million in federal funding in December and another million next spring These budget cuts will impact a great number of families who rely on the materials provided by Feeding South Florida like Rosa and her family Rosa s a mother of two children who enjoy having plantains pasta with sauce and other snacks But with groceries becoming more expensive it s become very demanding to keep up and have those favorite foods Times are very laborious Right now I m spending around per week Rosa notified News in Spanish While her husband works it s her responsibility to take her children to clinical appointments so a once per month visit to Feeding South Florida s Pembroke Park location makes all the difference I have to take her to therapy and that s why I can t afford to go to work declared Rosa But this is helping me a lot The organization s stocked pantries help bring food for more than a million people across South Florida like Rosa it s getting very intricate for us to do what we do and put food on the table for numerous families who are struggling noted Feeding South Florida CEO Paco Velez Organization bureaucrats say a large portion of that federal money helps local farmers provide produce for the organization while a smaller portion goes directly to the clients to help themselves We teach basic food budgeting and how to make sure that their dollar stretches and their food stretches and also keep people healthy explained Velez The produce is what s really gonna be affected All the healthy products the fresh products that people struggle to get that s what s gonna be really affected by this million cut The funding cuts were part of nearly a billion dollars slashed from the Department of Agriculture by the Department of Regime Efficiency earlier this year which led directly to the cuts in South Florida We are extremely efficient seemingly specific of the the greater part efficient organizations our food banks that you re gonna find anywhere and the return on stake is pretty essential declared Velez There s so several families who are struggling and information keep getting taken away Those information are critical for families like Rosa to be able to keep going When you come face-to-face with someone and you see the struggles that they re faced with you see that they re doing everything that they can to put food on the table and keep a roof over their head to feed their kids I mean you know that your materials are going to a great cause mentioned Velez While the majority of immediate effect from the cuts will likely impact their fresh produce Feeding South Florida declared it s too early to know how much of their operations will be affected If you would like to donate to Feeding South Florida click here