Emergency drive-through food giveaway set for Friday at John Prince Park

From 10 a.m. to 12 p.m, the Palm Beach County Food Bank will partner with Palm Beach County to provide food for local residents in need.

The Palm Beach County Food Bank is partnering with Palm Beach County to host an emergency drive-through food distribution event on Friday, November 7 at John Prince Park in Lake Worth Beach.

From 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., volunteers will load cars with non-perishable food, protein items and assorted fresh produce on a first-come, first-served basis while they last.

A two household maximum per vehicle will be enforced for residents who drive through in cars, entering the park’s Eric Call Pavilion just east of the park entrance at 4759 Congress Ave.

The event is in response to needs worsened by the recent White House decision to pay only partial food benefits during the government shutdown to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the largest federal anti-hunger initiative.

Typically, the food bank distributes food through its 200 partner agencies and not directly to recipients. Tomorrow’s event is a rare one due to the drastic need, organizers say.

There are more than 160,000 SNAP recipients in Palm Beach County not receiving funds in their accounts, including “seniors, veterans and families who don’t know where their next meal will come from. We hope this event can offer some desperately needed immediate relief,” said Jamie Kendall, the county food bank’s CEO.

“Thanks to private donors and our partnership with Palm Beach County, we began purchasing supplies in anticipation of this emergency distribution when the need becomes increasingly dire,” Kendall said.

Volunteers are needed to load cars and direct traffic on the day of the event. To donate time for the food drive, visitpbcfoodbank.org/volunteer.

“The face of hunger has changed in recent years,” Kendall said. “One in eight people often don’t know where their next meal will come from. Many more working families and multi-generational families are struggling to put food on the table as housing costs and other costs of living increase in this market.’’

With roughly 192,000 food-insecure residents throughout Palm Beach County, the food bank procures food from grocery stores, farmers, food distributors, wholesalers and other sources and distributes it to over 200 local community partners, including food pantries, soup kitchens and schools.

It is the only food bank focused solely on helping Palm Beach County residents. In the 2024-25 fiscal year, the food bank distributed over 11.7 million meals to over 193,000 residents experiencing hunger.

“Thanks to our buying power, we are able to transform every dollar donated into five meals for children, seniors, families, and neighbors in need experiencing food insecurity. If people are looking for ways to help their hungry neighbors, donations of all sizes are critical,’’ Kendall said.

For more information about Friday’s event, food resources, volunteer opportunities or to donate, visit pbcfoodbank.org

For a list of partnering agencies of the PBCFB who are also distributing food, visitpbcfoodbank.org/find-food.