MIAMI — Hundreds of people in need waited patiently for their turn to receive a gift bag with Thanksgiving Day food on Friday morning in Miami-Dade County’s West Little River neighborhood.
Miami-Dade County Commissioner Marleine Bastien greeted the grateful residents, some of whom were grandparents, at the Arcola Lakes Senior Center at 8401 NW 14 Ave.
“This is the biggest I have ever seen,” said Bastien, a Haitian American who has experience as a community activist and a social worker.
Bastien attributed the turnout to the delays that low-income seniors are experiencing with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, in South Florida.
“They were hurting even before the disruption,” said Bastien about the guests of the event that she co-hosted in partnership with Farm Share, United HomeCare, the Prosperity Social Community Development Group, Inc., and MJD Wellness.
In Miami, Christine Kings, the Miami commission’s chairwoman, co-hosted a Thanksgiving event on Friday morning to distribute 800 turkeys at the Liberty City District Office at 6140 NW 7 Ave.
MORE EVENTS
Bastien and Kings will also be co-hosting events on Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Oak Grove Park, at 690 NE 159 St., in Biscayne Gardens, and at 1 p.m. at 5801 NE 2 Ave. in Little Haiti.
For more information about food distribution sites and assistance programs in Miami-Dade County, call 211.
For more information about the Feeding South Florida’s program directory, visit this page. For more information about food pantries in the area, visit this page.
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