The success of WINK News’ March to a Million Meals is quantified by the number of meals the fundraising campaign provides to Harry Chapin Food Bank of Southwest Florida through donations each March. The last two years, viewers have rallied to donate a total of more than 2.5 million meals to local families facing food insecurity.
Having visited numerous food distribution sites in the region, WINK News Anchor Lois Thome has had a first-hand view of what success looks like for the month-long campaign that kicked off Jan. 31 with the goal of providing a million meals by March 1. She recognizes the importance of supplying even just one meal to a person or household with limited or uncertain access to nutritionally adequate and safe food.
“It can literally mean the difference between eating or not eating,” Thome said. “There are many people out there making impossible choices. Do I pay my rent this month, or eat…do I pay my electric bill or eat, do I get my necessary prescription medicine this month or eat? The food distributions by the Harry Chapin Food Bank and its partner agencies help to eliminate those tough choices by providing nutritious food for working families, seniors and so many others.”
In 2024, Harry Chapin Food and its 175 partner agencies distributed 39.5 million pounds of food, including 1,354,606 meals provided by WINK News viewers during March to a Million Meals. The 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.
More than 135,250 people in Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Glades and Hendry counties faced food insecurity in 2021, according to nonprofit Feeding America. Approximately 30,000 of those people were children.
“Food insecurity is a huge issue right now with the increasing costs of food, rent and insurance in Southwest Florida. Most families leave the Harry Chapin mobile pantries with enough food to feed their families for a week,” Thome said. “They are so grateful, because food insecurity for most of the people in line is temporary, and this kind of help is a bridge, not a lifestyle.”
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.
Every dollar raised equates to $2 in meals supported by Harry Chapin Food Bank.
To donate, go to winkfeedsfamilies.com.