Cars and Cocktails Revs Up for Food Pantry

Our Daily Bread Food Pantry's Second Annual Cars and Cocktails event hosted by Jim and Allyson Richards was a great success. It featured antique, vintage and classic cars through the decades.

Over 100 people attended this event whose goal was to increase engagement with and revenue for Our Daily Bread Food Pantry (ODBFP). The event raised over $50,000. All funds raised will go to supporting the pantry's operations and will ensure that the pantry can continue serving its guests nutritious, healthy foods. Just this past Saturday, November 11th, the pantry hit a new record of serving 924 households. The numbers that the pantry serves grow week over week!

Our Daily Bread Food Pantry provides breakfast to 100 students five days a week at the Marco Island Charter Middle School and also provides weekend food backpacks for over 300 students in East Naples and Marco Island. The pantry serves more than 1,400 households, seniors, and students weekly through its K - 12 programs, mobile pantries, appointments and deliveries, and main pantry service on Saturday mornings.

Evelyn Rossetti-Ryan, Executive Director for ODBFP said, “Our Daily Bread Food Pantry owes its success to the tireless work of its more than 250 volunteers who give of themselves six days per week, and who in addition to serving over 1,400 guests weekly, provide back-of-house support to ensure a smoothly run operation. It is thanks to our volunteers' generosity of time, energy, and effort as well as the generosity of our donors and the community - be it in the form of financial support or food drives - that the pantry is able to nourish the community one bag of groceries at a time.”

ODBFP Board Chair Allyson Richards reminded the attendees that Evelyn has only been with ODBFP for six weeks – yet, already, she has hit the ground running for the Food Pantry. Evelyn also thanked the ODBFP’s Board for their leadership and support.

Mike Stanczak, a volunteer from ODBFP, showed the attendees a cart filled with food items distributed during Saturday’s pantry service at the Winterberry location. According to Mike, not many pantries provide peanut butter and bread and the cart also contains eight to ten pounds of fresh produce.

Mike also thanked all the attendees who raised their paddles for the live auction and provided samples on how their generosity will help many households:

$100 would provide half gallon of milk for 35 household

$250 would provide one dozen eggs for 125 households.

$750 would provide pasta and sauce for 300 households.

$1,000 would provide peanut butter and bread for 250 households.

$3,000 would provide a cart of groceries for 100 households.

$5,000 would provide 10 lbs. of fresh produce for 650 households.

$7,500 would provide 2 lbs. of rice and beans for 3,000 households.

$10,000 would provide a cart of groceries for 350 households.

If you missed the event, please feel free to find out more information on how you can support our Daily Bread Food Pantry, email evelyn@ourdailybreadfoodpantry.org.