WHAT WE DO
In 2023 Kim’s Krew delivered 115,000 pounds of groceries!
We work one-on-one with our families to help them move toward their goals by gathering information, assessing situations, jointly creating a plan, providing assistance, referring them to appropriate existing agencies, providing follow up and REPEATING AS NEEDED. All this takes time. We quickly deliver a month’s worth of supplies to help people survive and hopefully stabilize as they go through this process. Clients are strongly encouraged to follow the plan they have set up before contacting us again. In 2023, 424 different families received these intense services through our Emergency Stabilization Plan. 331 families (78%) only needed our help 1 or 2 times during the year. Only 22 families (.05%) requested our help for more than 5 months in those 12 months.
We are the only food panty in Manatee County that delivers. In true emergencies we deliver in under 24 hours. We provide a much-needed service to the people of Manatee County. This is evidenced by referrals from other agencies such as Manatee County Food Bank Meals on Wheels Plus, Manatee County Elderly Services, Medical Social Workers at 2 local hospitals, 3 Medicaid Insurance Companies, Churches with groups to help the poor, Manatee County Rural Health, Safe Child Coalition, and Turning Points to name a few.
Kim's Krew's orders of groceries and MORE usually range from 4 to 14 boxes of supplies for the month. Each month we average food for 20,000 meals.
We take orders based on the family’s health, ability to store and cook food, and what they will use. Along with the groceries, families can request toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, deodorant, soap, tampons, pads, baby wipes, adult diapers, laundry and dish detergent, disinfectant, cleaning liquid, linens, towels, and kitchen items and small cooking appliances. These personal hygiene and household cleaning items cannot be purchased with Food Stamps. We contract “Instacart” type drivers to make deliveries to families in all 742 square miles Manatee County.
OUR CLIENTS
The people we focus on have met with unfortunate life circumstances, some of Manatee County's most vulnerable. In 2020, we began to prioritize families that were food insecure and not using the other 50 walkup or drive through type food pantries in Manatee County. We learned that 85% of these families had a medical situation such as cancer, COPD, mobility difficulties, recent surgeries, PTSD, severe anxiety, or depression as a key reason for their lack of access to food. Too sick to work, not healthy enough to walk to a pantry or carry food, too poor to own a car, and on the verge of losing their housing (20% of our clients already have) these are the families Kim’s Krew aids in our Emergency Stabilization Program. We also assist those recovering from homelessness get started by providing an initial emergency stabilization care package. The Bradenton area ranked 8th on a list of least-affordable small American cities. Combine this with skyrocketing food prices and you can see the need for the safety net Kim’s Krew provides to our community.
Thanks to grants from The Rotary Club of Bradenton, The Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints and indivudal donations, Kim’s Krew has been able to increase the average number of families served each month from 40 families to over 100 families per months!
CONTACT US TO DONATE OR VOLUNTEER
Get in touch with Kim's Krew to discover more about our work and how to donate or volunteer. We thank you for your support.
To request assistance call us at: 941-792-0993.