Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Sunday, Jun 01, 2025

Miles-long row of cars waits near Florida food bank as demand surges

Dramatic images from South Florida on Monday show a long line of cars backed up bumper to bumper on a roadway while motorists wait hours to get food from a food bank. A drone captured aerial shots of vehicles waiting in line outside a food bank in Sunrise, Florida.

A drone captured aerial shots of vehicles waiting in line in Sunrise, Florida, just northwest of Fort Lauderdale, on Monday.

The motorists were waiting to receive food from Feeding South Florida, a food bank that relies on donations to feed the poor.

Feeding South Florida has seen a 600 per cent increase in the number of people asking for food as millions have been laid off due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Floridians lined up to receive produce ranging from milk, chicken, apples, tomatoes, cantaloupes, and eggs.

According to the Miami Herald, food banks like Feeding South Florida and others have a glut of fresh produce to give away.

That’s because the coronavirus outbreak has forced governments to shut down the hospitality industry, which includes restaurants, hotels, airlines, cruise ships, school cafeterias, and other businesses that serve food to customers.

That means farmers who rely on these businesses to buy their crops have an excess of perishable food and nothing to do with it.

Food that isn’t donated to food banks is simply thrown away or turned into mulch as there is no set mechanism to efficiently redistribute the excess produce to those in need.

‘The volume is at a level we’ve never seen before,’ said Stephen Shelley, president and CEO of Farm Share.

‘It is overwhelming the system.’

Farm Share distributes food every day through partnerships with food pantries, churches, school, and other nonprofits.

The organization has dozens of drop sites throughout Florida. It is running at maximum capacity using every one of its 25 refrigerated trucks and six warehouses to get food to those who need it.

Feeding South Florida said it welcomes the excess donations. It is operating at a pace to deliver 2.5 million meals a week to hungry Floridians.

‘We absolutely can handle it,’ said Sari Vatske, executive vice president of Feeding South Florida.

‘We can’t get it in and out fast enough.’

Vatske said that while the number of people asking for food has increased six-fold, the number of staff has been cut by three-fourths as people are adhering to stay-at-home orders.

‘The math is not on our side,’ Vatske said.

More than 520,000 Floridians have applied for unemployment since March 15, compared to 326,000 in all of last year.

State statistics show that as of Monday, almost 13,000 people have been diagnosed with the disease and 235 have died since the outbreak began being tracked a month ago.

About 1,600 people are hospitalized in the state.

More than 6.6 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits at the end of last month - doubling a record high set just one week earlier - a sign that layoffs are accelerating in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak.

Combined with last week’s report that 3.3 million people sought unemployment aid three weeks ago, the US economy has now suffered nearly 10 million layoffs in just the past few weeks — far exceeding the figure for any corresponding period on record.

The stunning report issued last Thursday by the Labor Department showed that job cuts are mounting against the backdrop of economies in the United States and abroad that have almost certainly sunk into a severe recession as businesses have shut down across the world.

'This kind of upending of the labor market in such a short time is unheard of,' said Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank.

The sight of long rows of cars waiting outside food banks has become more frequent since the pandemic has made its impact on the United States.

On Thursday, hundreds of motorists waited hours to collect food from a food bank in Orlando, a city that has seen a surge in unemployment after the town's famous theme parks were forced to close its doors to the coronavirus outbreak.

Last Monday, motorists were forced to wait on a mile-long line for a drive-up emergency food distribution set up in Pittsburgh to meet social distancing requirements due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank in Duquesne, Pennsylvania, had only 1500 food boxes as local police set up portable toilets every 3/10ths of a mile to handle the large crowds who showed up.

The food bank, which is about 10 miles outside Pittsburgh and serves 11 counties in southwestern Pennsylvania, is considered an essential facility during containment efforts underway to slow the spread of the deadly flu-like virus, also known as COVID-19.

However, officials at the non-profit have had to cancel several food distributions and not have volunteers at its warehouse to meet mandates set up by health officials in response to the virus, WTAE reports.

The measures come as the food bank moves to protect its staff and the community from unnecessary exposure.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
OPEC+ Agrees to Increase Oil Output for Third Consecutive Month
Turkey Detains Istanbul Officials Amid Anti-Corruption Crackdown
Meta and Anduril Collaborate on AI-Driven Military Augmented Reality Systems
EU Central Bank Pushes to Replace US Dollar with Euro as World’s Main Currency
European and Arab Ministers Convene in Madrid to Address Gaza Conflict
U.S. Health Secretary Ends Select COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations
Trump Warns Putin Is 'Playing with Fire' Amid Escalating Ukraine Conflict
India and Pakistan Engage Trump-Linked Lobbyists to Influence U.S. Policy
U.S. Halts New Student Visa Interviews Amid Enhanced Security Measures
Trump Administration Cancels $100 Million in Federal Contracts with Harvard
SpaceX Starship Test Flight Ends in Failure, Mars Mission Timeline Uncertain
King Charles Affirms Canadian Sovereignty Amid U.S. Statehood Pressure
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Founder Warns Against Trusting Regime in Nuclear Talks
UAE Offers Free ChatGPT Plus Subscriptions to Citizens
Lebanon Initiates Plan to Disarm Palestinian Factions
Iran and U.S. Make Limited Progress in Nuclear Talks
The Daily Debate: The Fall of the Dollar — Strategic Reset or Economic Self-Destruction?
Trump Administration's Tariff Policies and Dollar Strategy Spark Global Economic Debate
OpenAI Acquires Jony Ive’s Startup for $6.5 Billion to Build a Revolutionary “Third Core Device”
Turkey Weighs Citizens in Public as Erdoğan Launches National Slimming Campaign
Saudi-Spanish Business Forum Commences in Riyadh
Saudi Arabia and Spain Sign MoU to Boost SME Sectors
UK Suspends Trade Talks with Israel Amid Gaza Offensive
Iran and U.S. Set for Fifth Round of Nuclear Talks Amid Rising Tensions
Russia Expands Military Presence Near Finland Amid Rising Tensions
Indian Scholar Arrested in Crackdown Over Pakistan Conflict Commentary
Israel Eases Gaza Blockade Amid Internal Dispute Over Military Strategy
President Biden’s announcement of advanced prostate cancer sparked public sympathy—but behind closed doors, Democrats are in panic
A Chinese company made solar tiles that look way nicer than regular panels!
Indian jet shootdown: the all-robot legion behind China’s PL-15E missiles
The Chinese Dragon: The True Winner in the India-Pakistan Clash
Australia's Venomous Creatures Contribute to Life-Saving Antivenom Programme
The Spanish Were Right: Long Working Hours Harm Brain Function
Did Former FBI Director Call for Violence Against Trump? Instagram Post Sparks Uproar
US and UAE Partner to Develop Massive AI Data Center Complex
Apple's $95 Million Siri Settlement: Eligible Users Have Until July 2 to File Claims
US and UAE Reach Preliminary Agreement on Nvidia AI Chip Imports
President Trump and Elon Musk Welcomed by Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim with Cybertruck Convoy
Strong Warning Issued: Do Not Use General Chatbots for Medical, Legal, or Educational Guidance
Saudi Arabia Emerges as Global Tech Magnet with U.S. Backing and Trump’s Visit
This was President's departure from Saudi Arabia. The Crown Prince personally escorted him back to the airport.
NVIDIA and Saudi Arabia Launch Strategic Partnership to Establish AI Centers
Trump Meets Syrian President Ahmad al-Shara in Historic Encounter
Trump takes a blow torch to the neocons and interventionists while speaking to the Saudis
US and Saudi Arabia Sign Landmark Agreements Across Multiple Sectors
Why Saudi Arabia Rolled Out a Purple Carpet for Donald Trump Instead of Red
Elon Musk Joins Trump Meeting in Saudi Arabia
Trump says it would be 'stupid' not to accept gift of Qatari plane
Quantum Computing Threatens Bitcoin Security
Michael Jordan to Serve as Analyst for NBA Games
×