WINK News viewers set the tone early in last month’s March to a Million Meals campaign, donating a couple hundred thousand meals to Harry Chapin Food Bank of Southwest Florida in the first week before finishing strong. As of 1 p.m. March 35, viewers raised more than $760,000 amounting to 1,520,014.
Beginning two decades ago as the WINK News Feeds Families Hunger Walk, the campaign evolved into the March to a Millon Meals online donation format during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the last three years, viewers helped the station surpass 4 million meals donated.
Harry Chapin Food Bank rescues food that would otherwise go to waste and distributes it to children, families and seniors who are hungry through a series of food distribution programs that feed more than a quarter of a million people each month.
In 2024, Harry Chapin Food Bank distributed 39.5 million pounds of food through its feeding network, a 10.6% increase over the prior year that equates to an additional 3 million meals served to neighbors across Southwest Florida. The nonprofit’s 2024 Community Impact Report documents an increase in food distributions across all five counties it serves, including 2% in Charlotte, 5% in Collier, 16% in Lee and 16% in Hendry.
At many of the distributions, the food bank hands out food boxes that can serve four people for five days. The boxes contain oatmeal, spaghetti and sauce, macaroni and cheese, tuna and peanut butter, as well as canned soups and fruits.
Two food distribution programs focused on children saw large year-over-year spikes. Harry’s Helpings, which provides supplemental food kits for families through education providers, agency partners, community events and community centers, distributed 261,000 pounds of food in 2024, a 31.2% year-over-year increase. The In-School Pantry Program, which supplies shelf-stable foods to families through school pantries, distributed 741,000 pounds of food last year, a 28.2% increase.