Our Food Pantry Is Only the Starting Point

When someone comes to Bridge To Hope because they need food, we work hard to make sure they get it. Providing fresh, nutritious groceries to families across Miami-Dade is a big part of what we do.

And right now, more and more families are asking for help.

Food pantries across South Florida are under tremendous strain as the need for help skyrockets while the food, funding, and other resources available to meet people’s needs are not keeping pace. Bridge To Hope is feeling that pressure directly. We serve approximately 8,000 to 10,000 people every month, and there are times when the number of families needing help exceeds the resources we have available.

As you can imagine, this is heartbreaking for us.

But the challenge we face is bigger than just food.

A family struggling to buy groceries may also be dealing with a lost job, a health problem, lack of computer access at home, difficulty getting to a pantry, or simply not knowing where to go for help.

Over many years of hard work and experience, we’ve learned that handing someone groceries solves an important and immediate problem, but it may not solve the larger problems that put the family in trouble in the first place.

So our work has to go deeper.

We have a case worker who helps people understand what assistance may be available and connects them with the services and resources they need. We deliver groceries to seniors, people with disabilities, and others who cannot easily get to us. Our Digital Lab provides access to computers, high-speed internet, and hands-on tech skills training. Our free long-term laptop loan program gives people a computer they can use at home to apply for a job, take an English class, make a medical appointment, pay a bill, prepare for citizenship, or help a child with homework.

What makes Bridge To Hope different is the range of help we can provide when someone comes to us in need.

A person may initially come through our doors because there isn’t enough food at home, but that same person may need help finding work, getting access to health care, using a computer, or finding another community resource.

Our mission is to try to help with the immediate problem they face—hunger and food insecurity—and, whenever possible, with the underlying problems that can keep a family struggling.

We do this work because many of us at Bridge To Hope know exactly what it’s like to go through hard times. And because we hold the deep conviction that people deserve the best help possible—useful, respectful, and given without making them feel small.

This Give Miami Day, our goal is $150,000.

This would be the highest amount we have ever asked for or raised. It’s a little scary for us, but the need is too great for us to think small.

And actually, it is far more terrifying for us to face the prospect of turning families and children away because we don’t have the nutritious food or resources they need.

That $150,000 would help Bridge To Hope keep pace with the growing number of people turning to us for help.

Unrestricted gifts are especially valuable because they allow us to put resources where the pressure is greatest—whether that means purchasing food, making home deliveries, keeping refrigerators and freezers running, supporting our case work, providing digital access, or covering the everyday costs required to serve thousands of people month after month.

An unrestricted gift gives us the flexibility to respond to the need in front of us—whether that is food, a home delivery, help from our case worker, or access to technology.

That's why this Give Miami Day matters so much. It gives us the opportunity to raise the flexible funds we need to help more people at a time when the need is mounting fast.

There are many worthy organizations participating in Give Miami Day, and we are proud to be among them.

If you believe that a neighbor going through a difficult time deserves good food, practical help, and a chance to get back on their feet, we hope you will choose Bridge To Hope.

Because Love Does.