Food pantries on the Suncoast are struggling to assist others as the demand more than doubles. New Hope Community Church Food Pantry on Mondays and Fridays has seen double the traffic of residence in need and is partnering with HOPE for North Port to help better serve the City of North Port’s residents and surrounding communities. The food pantry serves residents of the city and surrounding communities. Their All Faiths distribution partnership provides for residents of Sarasota, DeSoto, and Manatee Counties with vast variety of nutritional items. Recently, they have seen people traveling from Lee County and Manatee County in addition to serving residents of Charlotte County whom are seeking assistance. Last year, an average month saw them serve over 7500 household members. The current demand has them tracking to serve over 11,000 household members a month. The pantry wants to be able to provide for the increased demand that our current situation within our communities has.  They want to reach more people and show the radical love of Jesus through selfless giving. There is a growing need of healthy volunteers to assist Mondays and Fridays from 9 am to 6 pm and Thursdays from 10 am to 2 pm. In addition to volunteers they are in need of boxes as well as canned meats with pop tops like tuna fish and chicken.

The increase in attendance at the pantry has caused a financial strain on the pantries budget. They have partnered with HOPE for North Port Community Development Corporation to raise a goal of $10,000 so they may continue to serve the population in need during, through, and after the current health crisis. They anticipate a higher demand for sometime into the future and seek to bring healing and hope to the residence as they look to find stability through these trying times. This year their budget has double yet is still not enough to keep up with the growing demand for the pantry for local residents. HOPE for North Port is collecting financial donation in an effort to bring stability to the pantry as they navigate through this time of increased demand. 

Donate through their Facebook Fundraiser.