Soggy Weather for Fill the Boat Food Drive

The US Coast Guard Auxiliary (USCGAux) of Marco Island hosted its Third Annual Fill the Boat Food Drive on Friday, March 22nd. They partnered with Marco’s Winn Dixie to fill a 21-foot boat with food and donations to benefit Our Daily Bread Food Pantry (ODBFP). 

Friday delivered monsoon-like weather, but the rain did not deter grocery shopping for Marco residents, and they were very generous. Shoppers took advantage of the Winn Dixie BOGO offerings of non-perishable items badly needed to keep the Food Pantry well stocked – such as peanut butter, canned vegetables and fruits and cereal. Flotilla Commander Joe Riccio and his group also helped shoppers load the boat with bagged groceries. Residents also stopped by to deliver cash donations and according to Jen Sprague of ODBFP, besides the dontated food, the Food Drive received monetary donations totaling $2,332.88.

“The Marco Island community was so generous and showed up in full force on a rainy day to support our Third Annual Fill the Boat Food Drive to support the Food Pantry. Several shoppers quipped, “You should call it ‘Fill the Ark’ due to the rain,” said Dick Hurd of the USCG Auxiliary.

The 2024 Food Drive collected 1,157 pounds. As in years past, Winn Dixie agreed to match up to 1,000 pounds of donated food. 

The Managers from Winn Dixie were excited to continue the annual Fill the Boat Food Drive tradition and mingled with shoppers and volunteers.

Abi Serrano, Winn Dixie’s new manager, has been with the company for over ten years, coming from the Key Biscayne area. He was very excited about the food drive initiative and shared, “This is a great store, and the customers are amazing.”

Lorenzo Rodriguez, Winn Dixie’s Local Community Manager, is new to this position and to Marco’s Fill the Boat Food Drive. He commented, “I love being involved in the community, and I want to let the community know that Winn Dixie is there for them.”

The Fill the Boat Food Drive is nothing new to Winn Dixie’s Jocelyn Gonzalez, Customer Service Manager and Michael Villante, Store Merchandise Manager. Both have been involved with this local tradition for the last several years.

The donation from the Fill the Boat Food Drive will help provide 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.”

If you missed the Fill the Boat Food Drive due to the weather and want to make an Easter contribution, consider these facts as seen on ODBFP’s website: $25 will buy macaroni and cheese for 20 households; $100 will buy ½ gallon of milk for 35 households; $250 will buy fresh eggs for 120 households; and $1,000 will buy peanut butter for 300 households.

For more information about the USCGAux programs such as Vessel Safety, or how to join, please call 239-394-5911 or www.USCGAuxMarco.org.