WEST PALM BEACH — Feeding South Florida will host its annual Outrun Hunger 5K at Okeeheelee Park on Saturday, Sept. 19, timing the Palm Beach County race to the start of Hunger Action Month, the Boca Raton Tribune reported in August.
Each race registration helps provide 120 meals for individuals and families facing hunger and food insecurity, according to the Tribune — a conversion that reflects the food bank’s ability to stretch each donated dollar through bulk purchasing and food rescue.
The event arrives at a demanding moment for the region’s anti-hunger network. Feeding South Florida, the largest food bank serving Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, serves more than 1.7 million people through a network of over 200 partner agencies, according to the organization.
The Summer Squeeze
Summer is consistently the leanest season for food banks. More than 300,000 South Florida children rely on free or reduced-price meals during the school year, and when campuses close, families must replace those meals at home, CBS12 reported. Feeding South Florida sponsors the USDA Summer Food Service Program, providing meals to children at Summer BreakSpot sites and pop-up pantries in low-income communities, and distributes thousands of food-filled backpacks through the summer months.
Demand has outpaced supply at times. The organization has publicly warned of shortages of both money and food amid what it called an unprecedented increase in need, CBS Miami has reported — pressure that makes signature fundraisers like the 5K more consequential than their modest entry fees suggest.
September’s Hunger Action Month, a national campaign organized by the Feeding America network, gives the food bank a platform to convert awareness into volunteers and recurring donors heading into the fall. The West Palm Beach-area race joins a calendar of Feeding South Florida events that carry the organization through its busiest season, which peaks with holiday distributions in November and December, according to the group’s events calendar.
Registration for the Sept. 19 race is open through the organization, with proceeds directed to hunger relief across the four-county service area.
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