Holiday food drives and giveaways have taken on more urgency as many have lost their jobs during the pandemic. Hundreds of thousands of South Floridians are in need. We’re naming a few people and organizations that are hosting distributions this month.
“We distribute shoes and first aid kit necessities for people in need who live on the streets,” said Cobi Morales, co-founder of iRun.
Cobi Morales and his longtime running friend Ibrahim Al-Rashid are teaming up to donate over 100 pairs of running shoes to the homeless. This year marks the third year that the two will make the personal donation to those living in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale.
“This year there are more people in need so it’s going to carry a lot more meaning, so just to be able to get out there to help people in need. We’re not just giving away shoes, we’re giving away care packages too. Hand sanitizer, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, masks to give these people some dignity,” said Ibrahim.
To help fight hunger, Feeding South Florida has been distributing food regularly in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.
Sedano’s Supermarkets has also been providing meals to families in need. This Wednesday, they’ll be distributing holiday gift baskets on a first-come first-serve basis at Marlins Park. They’re expected to distribute 1,000 baskets.
“It’s everything that you need for a holiday, what we call “la cena de navidad”. It’s everything that you need for that meal. It has turrones, rice, beans, even pork. A lot of different items to make that dinner special. What everybody deserves, a nice meal for noche buena,” said Pedro Mesa, supervisor at Sedano’s Supermarkets.
In Broward, Meals on Wheels will be delivering over 150 holiday gift boxes to homebound seniors.
“We provide meals throughout the weeks to our clients and we know there’s more than just meals that they need and sometimes they find it hard to get things like laundry detergent, personal care items like socks, things that we take for granted. So it started with us wanting to show our clients that we care about them over the holiday season,” said Mark Adler, Executive Director of Meals on Wheels South Florida.
See below for the times, dates and more information on these distributions:
- “Holiday Steps for the Homeless” is on Tuesday, Dec. 8 from 7-9 p.m. You can donate new or newly used shoes at iRun which is located at 5050 Biscayne Blvd.
- Sedano's Supermarkets Camacol's holiday food drive is on Wednesday December 16th on the east side of Marlins Park at 1390 NW 5th ST, Miami, FL 33125.
- For more information on Meals on Wheels, click here.
- Food distributions:
- Feeding South Florida: for a list of food distributions, click here.
- Overtown Youth Center at Gibson Park on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9 a.m.
- Miami Marlins Foundation at Marlins Park on Tuesdays at 1 p.m.
