Serving Palm Beach County’s families of children with special needs (age birth to 22 years), the Helpline provides a one-stop shop for information, referrals and system-navigation assistance.
Hunger can — and does — exist amid plenty. Despite its wealth, more than 132,000 residents in Palm Beach County struggle with hunger. 37,350 of these residents are children who do not have enough to eat on a daily basis.* Over half of the students enrolled in The School District of Palm Beach County are qualified for free and reduced lunch.
*Feeding America, Map the Meal Gap [https://map.feedingamerica.org/]
In our community, individuals or families do not want to share with their neighbors the fact that they are struggling economically often hide hunger. Sometimes hunger hides behind doors of nice houses with mortgages in default, or where the electricity is turned off, or all the income is going to housing costs, leaving little or no money for food. Sometimes it hides behind the stoic faces of parents or grandparents who skip meals to protect their children or grandchildren from hunger. It goes unseen by those not looking for it.
Often students only eat while they are at school because they do not have food at home. There are 92,837 students that have qualified for free and reduced lunch, which is 49.7 percent of the students enrolled in Palm Beach County Public Schools (not including charter schools). Due to the growing number of children facing food insecurities, United Way of Palm Beach County has partnered with providers to provide 7,800 children with weekend food backpacks and nearly 22,000 meals served through the Mobile Breakspot food program in the Glades area.
In 2015, United Way of Palm Beach County and the administrative leadership at Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners collaborated to develop, identify solutions, and implement the Palm Beach County Hunger Relief Plan.
United Way and the County continues to lead this collaboration with more than 180 partners in our community to address childhood hunger, senior hunger, building infrastructure, alleviating hunger and increasing access to fresh produce in The Glades, and advocacy.
With an incredible gift from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott in 2020, United Way is partnering with the Palm Beach County Food Bank to build additional infrastructure that will expand hunger relief efforts and allow for more nutritious food to reach more people in our community.
View the most recent Hunger Relief Update: September 2023
For all previous updates, please visit our blog.
Click here to sign up for future Hunger Relief updates!
Palm Beach County Hunger Relief Plan
MacKenzie Scott Gift Update – Hunger Relief Plan
Hunger Relief Annual Reports
CROS Ministries serves the hungry in Palm Beach and Martin Counties by increasing access and availability of nutritious food through food pantries, a hot meal program, and produce recovery.
El Sol’s mission is to improve the quality of life for the residents of Jupiter by providing services primarily to day laborers, their children and families.
FLIPANY aims to build health equity through healthy meals, nutrition education, mentored physical activities, and wellness initiatives.
The Palm Beach County Food Bank is committed to being a strong leader for the other stakeholders and organizations that join us in addressing the issues surrounding hunger in Palm Beach County.
Pan-Florida Challenge assists in providing West Palm Beach elementary students with nutritious weekend meals during the school year.
Ruth & Norman Rales Jewish Family Services provides services such as food distribution and creates opportunity for social-emotional health and interpersonal skills by participating in a nurturing, stable relationship with a mentor.
The mission of The Glades Initiative is to improve the coordination and effectiveness of the health and human service delivery system in the Glades area of Palm Beach County.
