Pictured: Leo Ramos of Goodwill (left) with Our Daily Bread president Mark McLaughlin

For years, Goodwill Manasota has placed collection bins at each of its attended donation centers so that community members could donate non-perishable foods for those in need; the food has then been picked up by The Food Bank of Manatee and All Faiths Food Bank. In April, in response to an urgent local need, Goodwill made its first delivery of nearly 2,000 pounds of food to Our Daily Bread, a community-driven food pantry and soup kitchen. Since that first delivery, Goodwill has brought two more, with donated food totaling 5,144 pounds.

This new friendship came about through the partnership of Goodwill and Turning Points, a Bradenton-based organization that provides services aimed at preventing and ending homelessness. Goodwill has a Job Connection office on-site at Turning Points, where hundreds of Turning Points clients have been placed in jobs.

One important service available at Turning Points is lunch. Partner agency Our Daily Bread serves a meal on-site each day. Our Daily Bread also has a self-serve food pantry at Turning Points, where families can select the groceries they need.

The impacts of COVID-19 have been particularly challenging for Our Daily Bread. Requests for assistance have climbed, the costs of serving meals increased due to the need to package meals in “to go” containers, and the organization’s battalion of volunteers has not been available as community members stayed home.

Our Daily Bread president Mark McLaughlin put out calls for help and many local businesses responded - including Goodwill. Donna Evans, Goodwill’s Director of Donation Development who is responsible for coordinating the delivery of food donated at Goodwill - arranged for the deliveries of food to Our Daily Bread.

“We are grateful for the partnership we have developed with Goodwill, who has already made three deliveries of canned goods in the last month to our food pantry, Loaves & Fishes," said McLaughlin. "What a blessing – thank you, Goodwill!”

Pictured: Leo Ramos of Goodwill (left) with Our Daily Bread president Mark McLaughlin