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Winter Park's Feed the Need Virtual Food Drive a Success


This year's inaugural Feed the Need food drive is poised to surpass its fundraising goals when it wraps up on Friday. Launched by the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce, the campaign benefits Second Harvest Food Bank. But it's not an actual food drive, it's a virtual food drive.

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[Feed the Need logo]

Feed the Need is a spin-off from a traditional food drive started at Rollins College in 2008. But this year’s effort adopted a new name and a new approach. Backed by an assortment of community partners, the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce challenged businesses and residents to hold their own on-line fundraising campaigns. Chamber President Patrick Chapin says Second Harvest’s food buying power is so strong that a one-dollar donation can buy nine dollars worth of food. So the chamber put a 50-thousand dollar fund-raising challenge out to the community and Winter Park responded.

“It’s really phenomenal, I mean the community support has been outstanding, again, I can’t reiterate enough that this is the first time that a community has come together as a whole to benefit Second Harvest Food Bank,” he says.

Chapin says of the 500-agencies that Second Harvest supports, 17 are in Winter Park.

 

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