Food Charities to Support on Give Miami Day 2020

We're coming up on another holiday season. And, although there will still be Thanksgiving, most of us will be celebrating in a vastly different way from years past. Some of us will gather with immediate family, while many of us will see our extended loved ones only through the lens of our phones and computers. Still others in our community face the prospect of an empty table during the holidays.

The coronavirus pandemic has forced numerous businesses to shutter — either temporarily or permanently, leaving thousands of Miami residents jobless or underemployed.

As part of its mission to promote philanthropy throughout Greater Miami, the nonprofit Miami Foundation stages an annual Give Miami Day drive.

“The pandemic revealed monumental food insecurity in our community. Brave local organizations stepped up to make sure no one went hungry, bringing millions of pounds of food to people in need. Now it’s our turn to step up,” Miami Foundation president and CEO Rebecca Fishman Lipsey tells New Times.

Give Miami Day 2020 is  a community-wide movement that allows hundreds of local charities and organizations to participate to raise funds and awareness.

The 24-hour online event begins at midnight on Thursday, November 19, and ends at midnight on Friday, November 20. During those 24 hours, Miamians can make charitable gifts to any participating organization online. Nonprofits will receive the entire gift amount (less any credit-card transaction fees), as well as bonus pool funds and/or eligible prizes.

“Miami is incredibly generous, and on Give Miami Day, we have the chance to stand together and lift up organizations who have stretched to the limit this year,' says Lipsey. "There are almost 900 nonprofits participating, each of which keep our community strong. It’s time to honor their bravery from this year.”

Any of the participating nonprofits would be worthy of your generosity. But here's a list of 15 organizations that help put food on the table for Miamians in need. (A full list of participating organizations can be found at givemiamiday.org.)

Ally's Animal Project

Ally's Animal Project has donated a six-month supply of pet food to hundreds of families financially affected by COVID-19 across the nation. Many families have reported that without our help they would have had to surrender their pets to a shelter as they had no way of paying for their food. Keeping animals well-fed and with their owners during this unprecedented time is this organization's number-one goal.

Build a Better Tomorrow

Build a Better Tomorrow educates, provides nutritious food, and heals underserved and under-resourced communities in South Florida. One hundred percent of every dollar donated goes directly to feed families in local communities.

Care Resource Community Health Centers

Early in the pandemic, Care Resource created an emergency-assistance fund to provide direct aid to Miami's most vulnerable patients and clients, recognizing that housing and nutrition play key roles in overall health. Hundreds of individuals and families have received food vouchers and urgent housing assistance including mortgage, rent, or utility payments.

Common Threads

Common Threads is a national nonprofit that provides children and families cooking and nutrition education to encourage healthy habits that contribute to wellness. The organization provides communities with information to make affordable, nutritious, and appealing food choices wherever they live, work, learn, and play.

Curley's House of Style

Curley's House is a grassroots nonprofit established in 2001 to improve and empower low-to-moderate-income individuals and families, the elderly, the disabled, youth-at-risk, the abused, the homeless, veterans, and HIV/AIDS residents. Those in need are provided with bulk food products, clothing, furniture, and health and nutrition information pertinent to their daily life challenges and food insecurities.

EatWell Exchange

EatWell Exchange works to promote wellness in diverse communities. Through education and community gardens, the organization demonstrates to communities that they can enjoy the foods that are important to their culture and live a healthy lifestyle.

Farm Share

Actively working with partners in local communities, Farm Share maximizes its close relationships with more than 2,000 agencies located in rural and at-risk communities by providing food for millions at no cost to the agency or its beneficiaries. Farm Share makes it possible for Florida farmers to share food that would normally go to waste to feed Floridians who'd otherwise go hungry.

Feeding South Florida

Feeding South Florida's mission is to end hunger in South Florida by providing immediate access to nutritious food, leading hunger and poverty advocacy efforts and transforming lives through innovative programs and education.

Food Rescue U.S.–Miami

When businesses shuttered and events were postponed, Food Rescue U.S.–Miami recovered their excess food. The organization then partnered with Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez's Tiller and Hatch and launched a new initiative, Restaurant Meal Community Kitchens, staffed by local restaurant workers to prepare and serve food to people in need. Since March 2020, over 40,000 meals have been distributed through these kitchens. 

Homestead Soup Kitchen

The Homestead Soup Kitchen provides a hot, balanced, and nutritious meal to anyone in need in a non-discriminatory environment. There are no requirements for anyone looking for a meal — no identification check, no needs test, no questions asked.

Health in the Hood

Health in the Hood builds vegetable gardens and teaches wellness in underserved neighborhoods in order to create healthy communities. The groups transforms vacant land in food deserts into vibrant vegetable gardens. The neighborhoods it serves have extremely limited access to fresh foods and health-education resources.

Miami Dolphins Foundation

Through the Miami Dolphins Foundation Food Relief Program, Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross and the Dolphins organization have committed $2 million to fund a minimum of 1,000 meals each weekday for up to one year to assist those in need of hunger relief and with food insecurities.

The Pet Project

The Pet Project provides the necessary pet food, pet supplies, pet vaccines, and pet medications to enable  financially challenged individuals to keep their companion pets.

Slow Food Miami

Slow Food Miami is a grassroots, all-volunteer-board organization that brings the healthful benefits of real food to children and families by building and sustaining community gardens across Miami-Dade County. The group aims to counter the rise of fast-food-related diseases and the disappearance of local food traditions, and to educate people on how our food choices affect our overall health and the environment.

Smoothies 4 Students

Smoothies 4 Students was founded by a high school math teacher to provide students with high-quality meals and to educate students on proper nutrition with an emphasis on respecting the children it serves.