To actualize its mission, Treasure Coast Food Bank utilizes two measurable strategies to alleviate hunger among the more than 100,000 individuals found to be food insecure in our community.
First strategy: we share millions of nutritious meals each year with food-insecure individuals through food distribution programming. Meals, which have been procured, stored, and inventoried by TCFB, are shared seven days a week through TCFB-coordinated mobile pantry distributions, our child nutrition programs during the school year and over the summer, with more than 250 collaborative partner
organizations (human service agencies, churches) that serve low-income clients who are in need of immediate relief from hunger, and other programs. TCFB has formed these collaborations in order to create a highly-efficient emergency food distribution network that extends into the hundreds of diverse neighborhoods that constitute Florida’s Treasure Coast and Okeechobee County.
Second strategy: TCFB manages direct-service programs that ultimately help people transcend the need for government and charity support and thus ultimately, achieve long-term self-sufficiency. These programs are known as our “Strengthen Individuals & Families Programming.â€
TCFB was founded in 1989. TCFB's mission is to alleviate hunger by obtaining and sharing food and other
essentials in Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee, and St. Lucie Counties. TCFB's vision is "a hunger-free
Treasure Coast." The values of TCFB are: Quality (we are committed to excellence in services, products and operation); Respect (we treat all people with respect, dignity and courtesy); Stewardship (we use our
resources wisely, with accountability to the public and concern for the environment); and Integrity (we are honest and fair in our dealings with others).
TCFB coordinates more than 20 programs and initiatives in three priority areas: FEED, LEAD, and
STRENGTHEN.
FEED programming includes: Backpack Program, Kids Cafe, School Pantry Program, Mobile Pantry
Program, Healthy Options Program for the Elderly (H.O.P.E.), Summer Feeding Program, Farm to School,
USDA/TEFAP, Teen Pantry, Diaper Pantry, Disaster Relief, and Pet Pantry.
LEAD programming/initiatives include: Treasure Coast Hunger Free Coalition, Whole Child Connection,
and Hunger Action Month.
STRENGTHEN programming/initiatives include: Health & Nutrition Outreach, SNAP Outreach, Affordable Care Outreach, Your Plate Health & Wellness Center.
It should also be noted that TCFB, with an understanding that some government programs are critical
towards clients achieving more self-sufficiency, has assumed a role as the community's leading anti-poverty advocate, mobilizing community support for such federal and state programs as SNAP, Medicaid, ACA, the Farm Bill, Child Nutrition Reauthorization, and TEFAP. TCFB is also a charter member of the Feeding America Advocacy Hall of Fame, one of just a handful of food banks from around the country to be recognized for its leadership in the area of legislative and policy advocacy.
Finally, TCFB is set to launch, in spring 2016, a local food production facility that will ultimately enable
TCFB to receive locally-grown produce that can be prepared, value-added, cryovaced, and flash-frozen-- and frozen-- and then utilized for such programs as Farm 2 School, Summer Food Service Program, and Meals on Wheels.
During the last year, TCFB achieved the following:
• We provided 46 million meals to our neighbors in need of food assistance. This was accomplished
through our direct service programs such as Mobile Pantry, Child Nutrition Programs, Health & Wellness
Outreach Programs, and in partnership with more than 250 faith-based and human service organizations
working throughout Indian River, Martin, St Lucie and Okeechobee Counties.
• We were selected through a competitive, public process to assume full responsibility of the Whole
Child Connection program. This 10-year old Martin County-based nonprofit was formally rolled under the
TCFB umbrella on July 1, 2015. TCFB's highly-efficient business model will allow the program to better serve
Martin County families while also reducing the duplication of services and eliminating unnecessary
administrative costs.
• Partnered with the St. Lucie County School District to launch the Treasure Coast's very first Farm 2
School program in all St. Lucie County public schools.
• Launched the 2015 Summer Feeding program, preparing up to 5,000 healthy breakfasts, snacks, and
lunches each day to children kids who typically have no other option for food while schools close for summer.
• Earned a Superior rating in Food Safety from the American Institute of Baking (AIB) and second, an Innovation in Operation Award from the Florida Department of Agriculture for our greatly-expanded Summer Feeding Program.
