Eat Better Live Better in Delray Beach is worried about filling all the bags it needs to supply the 1,500 households it serves each month. ‘We were able to come up with June, but we’re not sure about July,’ says board member Jackie Ermola. ABOVE: Volunteer Frank Cottone (l-r), staffer Wesley Hinds-Francis and volunteer Delio Molina pack up. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Rich Pollack
When it comes to serving people in Palm Beach County who struggle to put food on the table, the perfect storm is swirling right over the horizon.
Some say it is already here, driven in large part by the dramatic escalation of food prices over the past few years combined with demand that grows as people struggle to meet the rising costs of housing and other basics they need just to get by.
Consider this: Five years ago, CROS Ministries, which serves almost 122,000 people a year through its food pantry program in Palm Beach and Martin counties, paid $19.56 for 12 jars of peanut butter. Last year that same case of 18-ounce jars cost the nonprofit $24.49, or 25% more.
“We are getting less food for the money in our budget,” said Ruth Mageria, CROS Ministries executive director.
Two or three years ago, Eat Better Live Better — a Delray Beach-based nonprofit that feeds about 1,500 households per month — paid $35 for 12 canisters of oatmeal. Now that same case costs $58, almost a 66% hike.
And for Boca Helping Hands, a food box with six meals and snacks — provided each week during the school year to 1,500 kids in 16 county schools — increased in just two years from $10.59 to $13.15, up 24%.
Food costs are also a factor for the Palm Beach County Food Bank, which has seen prices increase similarly to the national estimate of about 23% since 2020.
“That means we can’t stretch our food dollars as far as we used to, just like everyone else who goes to the grocery store,” said Jamie Kendall, chief executive officer of the food bank, which provides food to organizations that directly serve people in need.
In addition to prices, one of the other major concerns of those running programs that provide food is the uncertainty and inconsistency surrounding government funding.
Cutting back
Eat Better Live Better, a small operation with just two full-time employees that serves 4,000 to 7,500 individuals per month, saw a cutback in the amount of food provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in May, leading to worries about whether it would be able to fill all the food bags it provides.
After it had completed its distribution at the beginning of May, staff and volunteers looked around and saw mostly empty shelves.
“We had no food left,” said Jackie Ermola, an executive board member and the volunteer director of social services. “We were able to come up with June, but we’re not sure about July.”
Ermola said the crisis was averted thanks to donations from several organizations and food drives.
At Boca Helping Hands, a big chunk of a 40% reduction in the amount of food it received from food banks — as well as the USDA and private donations — came as a result of the federal government cutback.
The organization estimates that USDA donations dropped by about 100,000 pounds from March 1 last year to March 1, 2025.
It now appears that Congress has approved cutting food stamp programs, a move that many say will greatly burden organizations already facing heavy demand.
Like most other organizations that provide food, Eat Better Live Better has seen a significant increase in the number of people it serves.
Growing demand
“Right now, we’re serving at least three times as many families as we were three years ago,” said Debra Tendrich, the founder of Eat Better Live Better, who is also a state representative. “New families continue to walk through our doors on a regular basis.”
At CROS Ministries, there have been significant increases in the number of people it serves. In 2022, the number of individuals served at the food pantry was about 112,000. In 2024 that number rose to almost 122,000.
At Boca Helping Hands, there were 18,500 clients served by the organization’s food pantry in 2019 and by 2024 that number had jumped to about 27,000.
Driving that increase in demand is the rising cost of food that each household has to buy at the grocery store as well as the cost of housing.
“So many people pay their housing costs and then come to us looking for food,” said CROS Ministries’ Mageria.
CROS, which also operates the Caring Kitchen in Delray Beach and provides more than 36,000 prepared meals, is seeing a trend that other organizations have also noticed: an increase in the number of seniors looking for food.
“Seniors are sacrificing their food budgets in order to cover other major expenses,” said the county food bank’s Kendall. “Food budgets are the easiest one to cut.”
A community effort
What are organizations doing to offset the high cost of food and potential government cutbacks? Most are relying on the community to help with monetary donations, food donations or volunteer efforts.
“We have to work extremely hard to get more revenue in and to get more donations,” Tendrich said. “We’re lucky we have a lot of good relationships set up.”
Food drives and food donations from companies that Eat Better Live Better works with have helped keep the bags it provides full, but Ermola worries about the future if the USDA cutbacks continue.
“If we don’t get donations, then we’ll have to buy food at an increased cost from three years ago or the bags would have to be smaller,” she said.
Already the organization is operating a little leaner, agreeing not to fill a position after it became vacant. The organization is also scaling back on the food it provides to a summer camp for low-income children.
“We have to have all our funds go to food,” Tendrich said.
At CROS Ministries, Mageria and her board are hoping for more donations, especially now with the onset of summer when school lunch programs aren’t available and donations shrink as seasonal residents have returned home.
With questions about where the economy is going leading to more cautious philanthropic giving, organizations may want to increase collaboration to strengthen their buying power, Mageria said.
At Boca Helping Hands, which offers medical and financial assistance and job training programs, providing food is a priority and food drives conducted by businesses, places of worship and individuals are extremely valuable.
For the Palm Beach County Food Bank, which provides food to about 200 partner agencies, the ability to buy in bulk means it can do more with a donated dollar than an individual can do by going to the grocery store.
Like most organizations, the food bank also looks for help from volunteers.
With food prices not likely to drop and uncertainty around government programs such as food stamps, organizations continue to seek ways to keep up with demand and are looking toward being more creative in raising funds, Mageria said.
“My biggest concern is what’s going to happen in the future,” she said.
How you can help
Some ways to help nonprofit organizations serving people in need in south Palm Beach County:
Financial donation — Financial support is welcomed by local organizations, many of which have the ability to buy in bulk at a significantly lower cost than that available to retail customers.
Donate food — Individual food donations are welcomed by many organizations, but there may be some restrictions and some preferences on the types of food they request. It’s best to visit an organization’s website or call first.
Host a food drive — Food drives are an important way for organizations to replenish their supplies. Some organizations will sometimes seek a food drive for specific products, such as peanut butter.
Volunteer — Volunteers are always needed by most organizations to help with everything from sorting food to filling boxes or bags, or picking up or delivering food.
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