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Impact on hunger: Harry Chapin Food Bank distributes 38.7 million pounds of food in 2025

Volunteers pack boxes of food for Harry Chapin Food Bank’s Care and Share Senior Feeding Program. The program serves 2,600 seniors each month in the Southwest Florida area.
Emma Rodriguez
/
WGCU
Volunteers pack boxes of food for Harry Chapin Food Bank’s Care and Share Senior Feeding Program. The program serves 2,600 seniors each month in the Southwest Florida area.

More food, more fresh fruits and vegetables and a third of a million people served, that’s the sum total of Harry Chapin Food Bank’s impact in 2025.

The food bank’s eight-page 2025 Impact Report demonstrates the nonprofit’s progress toward its mission of ending hunger in Southwest Florida.

In 2025, the Food Bank distributed 38.7 million pounds of food, including 12 million pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables. The portion of fresh produce represents a 14.3% increase over the prior year. Overall, the Food Bank served about 300,000 neighbors each month across five counties:

  • Lee County: 19 million pounds (22.64 pounds per person based on population of 839,223)
  • Collier County: 11.5 million pounds (27.82 pounds per person based on population of 413,314)
  • Charlotte County: 5.2 million pounds (23.27 pounds per person based on population of 223,430)
  • Hendry County: 2.2 million pounds (46.72 pounds per person based on population of 47,085)
  • Glades County: 705,200 pounds (54.02 pounds per person based on population of 13,055)

“When we think about this past year, we don’t see numbers... we see faces,” said President and CEO Richard LeBer. “We see the relief on a mother’s face when she fills a grocery cart at a partner pantry after a slow season cut her hours at work. We picture the smile of a child opening a backpack and finding food to take home for the weekend. We remember the quiet ‘thank you’ from a senior who no longer has to choose between medicine and dinner.”

Harry Chapin Food Bank, the region’s largest hunger-relief organization and only Feeding America partner food bank, provided food through a variety of sources, including agency partners, mobile pantries and mobile markets. It also distributed food to children through Harry’s Helpings and in-school pantry programs, and to older residents through the Care and Share Senior Feeding Program and Commodity Supplemental Food Program.

In 2025, the Food Bank provided 556 health and nutrition classes, which attracted 1,687 seniors, 1,200 adults and 417 children. A total of 4,300 volunteers collectively gave 49,000 hours of their time, which equates to $1.5 million of in-kind service.

Harry Chapin Food Bank’s 2025 Impact Report is available for download at online.fliphtml5.com/harrychapinfoodbank/25-impact-report.

About Harry Chapin Food Bank

Harry Chapin Food Bank, a Feeding America partner food bank, is the largest hunger-relief organization in Southwest Florida. In 2025, the nonprofit distributed 38.7 million pounds of food through its agency partners, mobile pantries, mobile markets and programs for local children and seniors. The nonprofit serves nearly 300,000 neighbors per month across Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry and Lee counties. Harry Chapin Food Bank is an Agency Partner of United Way, Blueprint Partner of the Naples Children Foundation, rated as a Four-Star Charity by Charity Navigator and Platinum-rated by Candid’s GuideStar. For more information, please visit HarryChapinFoodBank.org or call 239-334-7007.

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