Nearly Half of SouthCoast Families Struggle with Food Insecurity

This week, we shined the Southcoast Health Community Spotlight onto My Brother's Keeper.

My brother's keeper is a Christian ministry that serves the SouthCoast community by providing healthy groceries and household furniture to the local families in need. They deliver all of these items right to people's homes at no charge and no questions asked.

Paul Key is the Chief Development Officer at My Brother's Keeper and he joined The Fun Morning Show as part of our SouthCoast Health Community Spotlight program.  "As long as the families or individuals live in the geographic territory My Brother's Keeper serves, we'll provide people with the help they need," said Key. My Brother's Keeper was founded to act as a way to fill their Christian mission.  The organization is a Christian ministry, but will happily serve anyone who asks for help, regardless of their religion.

The families that are served receive about $200 worth of groceries including frozen meat, fruits and vegetables, healthy non-perishable items, and paper goods. Families that call this morning will get their groceries this afternoon.

How Many Meals Does My Brother's Keeper Serve?

Delivering food to families in need is the biggest part of what My Brother's Keeper is all about.  This year they'll make over 15,000 food deliveries to local, SouthCoast families.  The focus is on covering families in New Bedford, Dartmouth, Westport and Fall River.

Stunning Food Insecurity Numbers in Bristol County

Key shared some disturbing numbers that might raise eyebrows in Bristol County.  Nearly one of of every two families in Bristol County suffer from food insecurity.  That means they don't have access to sufficient food, or food of an adequate quality, to meet their basic needs.

"We focus on New Bedford and Fall River because that's where we find the greatest need.  The food insecurity rate here in Bristol County is 48%," said Key. "That's the highest in the state."

That's a disturbing figure, for sure.

"The poverty rate in Fall River is 20%, and in New Bedford it is 19%, so for us to be able to serve families in those communities is very important," said Key.

Volunteers Needed at My Brother's Keeper

"We are an organization that has only 18 employees, but each year we have about 5,000 volunteers that help us make these deliveries to local families. That's a big part of our ability to be able to do what we do. It's critical that we get our local community involved in volunteering," said Key.

If you'd like to receive some healthy food or would like to volunteer with deliveries, you can find more info at MyBrothersKeeper.org.