With the COVID-19 pandemic presenting more economic challenges for numerous South Florida residents, the Palm Beach County Food Bank (PBCFB) recently appointed new board members to help provide critical resources for people struggling in Palm Beach County.

The PBCFB elected Bob O’Connell, Eileen P. Acello, Jorge Avellana, Susan Rabinowitz and South Bay Mayor Joe Kyles to help food-insecure residents in Palm Beach County. The new appointees will support the nonprofit’s mission to alleviate hunger in the county” by providing access to nutritious and substantial food to hungry neighbors.

“The pandemic has put families and their food security in a more vulnerable position than ever before,” LaTour says. “However, our new and existing board members give us the utmost confidence on delivering practical and cost-efficient solutions to food assistance. The diverse industry experience that they bring to our Food Bank is a great asset to the evolving needs in every hungry household.”

Before COVID, the PBCFB provided nutritious food to more than 200,000 residents every month, but the pandemic has caused that to triple. The center would typically distribute close to five million pounds of food monthly, but COVID issues have pushed that number to drop to an average of 1.5 million. The PBCFB gathers food from local grocery stores, farmers, food distributors, wholesalers and other sources and provides it to almost 200 local community partners. For more information about PBCFB, please visit pbcfoodbank.org.