BOCA RATON, Fla. — It has been months since Boca Helping Hands suspended its Thursday night dinners and Thursday evening pantry bag pick-up due to the pandemic. But now the Thursday evening pantry pick-up is back up and running and Luisa Salguerl stopped by for that help.
"It was a really big help, especially with the pandemic," she said.
When the pandemic hit, Boca Helping Hands went to a daytime-only distribution system. But expanding back to Thursday nights, it will help accommodate those who work daytime or weekend hours.
"Now we're in a position where we can go back and reopen some things and try to get back to normal," said Bill Harper with Boca Helping Hands. "So, Thursday nights we're opening it up to give people the flexibility to come here in the evening, that way they don't have to come here on a Saturday or during the day if they're working."
Harper said they're serving 4,000 families total through the four pantry bag locations. It's an effort that's highlighting a need that still exists for so many local families.
He said the generosity of others makes it all possible.
"Last year we actually had a record number of pounds of food distributed," said Harper. "It was over 3 million pounds of food and it was all because the community came together to make this happen."
Boca Helping Hands is looking for new locations to continue to help even more families.