Agape Food Bank
Our area has one of the highest populations of hungry children and adults. For this reason Agape Food Bank exists - to serve the hungry, young and old, in our communities. Increasing demands for food require a strong distribution network, efficient warehousing and a well-placed resource center. At Agape Food Bank we strive to meet these needs and always welcome much needed donations, whether it be food, money - including Memorial donations, household products or volunteered time. Agape Food Bank is one of the family of programs offered through Catholic Charities. We encourage you to give us a call.

OUR GOALS

• To serve as Polk, Hardee and Highland Counties link in the distribution network of local, state and federal sources of food and other products
• To provide food warehousing and to be a resource center to local nonprofit food distributors, churches, residential & nonresidential social service agencies/organizations
• To reduce waste and assure that excess or otherwise unsalable food, and other products, reach the tables to the hungry.

PRODUCTS
Agape Food Bank continually strives to establish new local and area resources for donated food products such as canned and packaged food and drink, meats and dairy products, household necessities such as cleaning and paper products, and personal care products such as diapers, soaps and detergents.

PROGRAMS

• General Food Distribution: Distributors and manufacturers are able to donate food products that do not meet precise industry standards which include labeling errors, overruns, discontinuances or quality control mistakes
• Community Food Drives: Food drives sponsored by corporations, clubs, associations, schools and individuals help supply Agape Food Bank throughout the year with hundreds of thousands of pounds of greatly needed non-perishable food items.
• Disaster relief: Agape Food Bank fulfills a vital role in responding to emergencies such as floods, tornadoes and hurricanes throughout the state.
• USDA Commodities: the US Department of Agriculture purchases food from US farmers and makes it available to feeding programs through Agape Food Bank.

VOLUNTEER
You can help ease hunger - 3+ million pounds of food, an equivalent 2 million meals, distributed yearly to the hungry of Polk, Hardee, and Highland Counties. Volunteers are an essential and vital arm of Agape, providing tremendous contributions working in the warehouse - sorting salvage food, boxing donated food, assisting at food shows, sponsoring food drives, providing office assistance and much more.

Benefitting Agencies
Agape Food Bank serves over 200 nonprofit member agencies. Any not-for-profit group is welcome to draw from Agape as long as they agree to disperse the food to the hungry free of charge. Member agencies include soup kitchens, emergency food pantries, day care centers, senior centers and others. By utilizing Agape Food Bank's reliable services, member agencies are able to provide more food, or a greater variety of food, to the people they serve. Many use the money they save through Agape to build other essential areas of their organizations.

Qualifying Agencies
Any charitable, not-for-profit organization interested in seeking qualification as a member agency may call 863-686-7153.