Summer Fun Heads Back to School!

During the summer, our work to feed those in need has been in full swing! Thanks to the generous financial donations from hundreds of businesses, faith organizations, civic groups, and individual supporters in our community we:

• Distributed 135,000 meals to children and their family through the Food4Families Program
• Mobilized volunteers who provided 480 hours of service to pack and distribute vital nutrition
• Utilized 6 distribution sites in high need areas
• Provided 490 Emergency Food & Baby Baskets
• Distributed over 926,000 pounds of food through our network of 100+ food pantries and partner agencies

Click here for a photo gallery of our Summer Hunger packing and distributions in action.

Click here to download our 2024 Sack Summer Hunger report.

Summer is winding down and before we know it, children will be back in school for another year of learning and growing. At The Food Bank of Manatee, a PLUS program of Meals on Wheels PLUS of Manatee, we think food should be at the top of every back to school list! Minds and bodies thrive with good nutrition. As we return thousands of Manatee County children to school, please continue to donate to Meals on Wheels PLUS so we can make sure that no child suffers from food-insecurity and can enjoy the opportunity to learn and succeed.

For every dollar you so generously donate, 92 cents goes directly into our PLUS programs. Together, we will meet the needs of our most food-insecure children and allow them the same opportunities for success as any other child. Please donate today!

Hands-on for Home-delivered Meals!

New employee, Nichole, helps to load meals with Charlie G. (left) and Dennis W. (right) and then headed out for her first meal delivery to our Home-delivered Meals clients.

When a new employee joins the team at Meals on Wheels PLUS of Manatee one of the first things they do as part of their New Employee Orientation is shadow a volunteer meal-delivery driver. The opportunity to deliver meals helps new employees understand our mission to provide nutritious meals to those in need and also to experience firsthand how volunteers are delivering much more than meals - they are offering friendship, reassurance, and smiles along with the delicious meals that are a lifeline for so many! It is a joy to serve others through our PLUS programs and our newest teammates get to experience that very early on in their employment!

Thanks to You & Publix, We Are Feeding More Together!

When you are checking out at any Publix in Manatee County and the cashier asks if you want to donate to your local food bank, did you know those donations directly benefit The Food Bank of Manatee, a PLUS program of Meals on Wheels PLUS of Manatee? As part of the Feeding More Together campaign, Publix generously passes along the financial contributions made in Manatee County to us and we use those donations to purchase food to feed those in need in our community. The result is a Publix semi-trailer backing up to The Food Bank of Manatee with 25,000 pounds of food! Our team goes right to work to unload the donations and within hours, the food is on the way to over 100 pantries around Manatee County. Children and families directly benefit from your generosity. Thank you for making a difference!

Senior Stars Celebration at Daybreak

In July, our friends at Daybreak Adult Day Center enjoyed a “Senior Stars Celebration” complete with patriotic decorations, sunglasses, and other fun festivities. The clients had a blast painting accessories for their handmade gnomes and making themed artwork using paper towel cardboard rolls. It is never too late to learn a new way to paint or make a craft! Everyone finished out their celebration with delicious red, white, and blue ice pops that made their celebration even sweeter. To learn more about our respite care program at Daybreak Adult Day Center, click here.

Potted Plants & Pen Painting at Friendship Dining

Current & Upcoming Events: 

Save the Dates for our FABULOUS FALL EVENTS!

With events in October, November, December, March, and May please plan now to attend!

Volunteer shifts for Stuff the Bus, presented by Mosaic will be available in August. Stay tuned for more information.

Register now for our Empty Bowls Lakewood Ranch event, presented by Neal Communities by clicking here.

More details will be coming soon on our TerraNova Empty Bowls event! Stay tuned.

Our Holiday Shoebox Collection is already in full-swing! If you would like to participate, click here for more information.

Save the date for our Tropical Nights Signature Fundraising Event! Saturday, March 1st, at Grove Ballroom in Lakewood Ranch.

Our Drive Away Hunger Golf Classic will be held on Friday, May 16th, at Rosedale Golf & Country Club. Registration details will be available soon. We look forward to seeing you there!

Donor Spotlight: Lazy Lobster Thanksgiving-themed Food Drive in July Benefits The Food Bank of Manatee!

Three cheers for The Lazy Lobster and Kacey’s Seafood & More who each held 2 Food Drives for The Food Bank of Manatee, a PLUS program of Meals on Wheels PLUS. The grand total amassed for the two restaurants was a whopping 776 pounds of non-perishable items that will be sent to our food pantry and partner agencies in Manatee County. The Food Bank of Manatee supplies over 100 food pantries and partner agencies with fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, and non-perishable items. These donations are critical to helping us #Feed Manatee! A hearty “thank you” to all who came to dine at one (or both!) of these wonderful restaurants and for making this a successful food drive with your generous donations. Enjoying delicious food and providing donations to our only local food bank is a “win-win” in any book!

Community Spotlight: Easterseals Fires Bowls for November Empty Bowls Event

Did you know that the Meals on Wheels PLUS Empty Bowls Lakewood Ranch event takes months and months to prepare for? Our volunteers hand paint each individual bowl, creating a variety of lovely and beautiful masterpieces for our Empty Bowls Lakewood Ranch guests to choose from! Have you ever wondered how they get their beautiful, shiny glaze? The bowls are waxed, painted, glazed, and then must be fired for 24 hours to get their lovely, shiny appearance. We are grateful to our friends at Easterseals Southwest Florida for assisting with the lengthy firing process. They kindly “opened up” their kiln to us and now we are seeing the beautiful, finished product return to us after their time in the heat. You will be able to see their amazing work, too, on November 8th, at our Empty Bowls Lakewood Ranch event! We are so grateful to Easterseals for sharing their kiln and donating their time and efforts to support our important Empty Bowls Lakewood Ranch event.

Volunteer Spotlight: Loveland Center

Josephine, an employee who works at the Loveland Center in Bradenton, an organization that provides adults and children with intellectual and physical disabilities the opportunity to live their lives as independently and happily as possible, came to Meals on Wheels PLUS of Manatee to learn more about what we do to feed those in need in our community. After hearing about our incredible mission, she was eager to bring Loveland Center clients here to lend a hand. She arranged to have a group of their participants come and assist with the sorting and bagging of produce that gets delivered to our Home-delivered Meals clients. Efficiently moving an open produce bag down the line assembly style fashion, they filled over 200 bags of nutritious fresh vegetables and produce that was then delivered by our wonderful drivers to clients all over the county. This opportunity continues to this day, and we welcome the Loveland Center volunteers every month to assist with this endeavor!

We were notified about a free resource for seniors that we wanted to share: SRQ Psychology, in partnership with Sarasota County Senior Advocacy Council, is hosting a Senior Citizen Day Drive. This drive-thru event will be held on August 23rd from 8:30am-1:30pm located at 4540 Bee Ridge Road in Sarasota. Just drive up and open your trunk to receive FREE goods like food, water, toiletries, toilet paper, paper towels, hand sanitizers and wipes, incontinence items, and more. Registration is required. Click here to register.

Food Distribution Programs |August 2024

If you are a senior needing meals delivered to your home, we can help! Our Home-delivered Meal program is available to Manatee County residents.

The Food Bank of Manatee, a PLUS program of Meals on Wheels PLUS of Manatee, provides non-perishable food items to local food pantries and soup kitchens.

Our Mobile Produce Pantry will be out and about in the community providing fresh and nutritious produce free of charge.



Thanks to our 2024 Sponsors!