Daytona, Port Orange Chick-fil-A workers package 10,000 meals for needy Volusia residents

PORT ORANGE — At least 50 Chick-fil-A employees and volunteers competed with each other Sunday at Atlantic High School to see who filled boxes of food faster to feed 10,000 needy Volusia County residents.

The boxed food was collected by U.S. Hunger, a nonprofit that will donate the meals to Second Harvest Food Bank, said Katie Terrio, marketing manager for the Chick-fil-A in Port Orange.

The Port Orange Chick-fil-A joined Chick-fil-A restaurants from Daytona Beach and Edgewater to box the meals Sunday.

The Chick-fil-A employees, wearing red T-shirts with "Herd of Helpers 2024" printed on them, cheered for one another as they filled the boxes with dried goods.

"It's awesome to see the excitement," said Adrian Daffy, events lead for U.S. Hunger. "The turnout was a lot more than we expected. Quiet honestly we are going to blow the time we set aside for this project out of the water. That's amazing."

U.S. Hunger's goal is to package 8 million meals for needy families in the United States in 2024, Daffy said.

1 out of 9 people in Florida suffer from food insecurity

Volusia County residents will receive six-portion bags of jambalaya meals of lentil, dried vegetables, salt and rice, Terrio said.

The food was obtained with the help of donors including Daytona Auto Mall, Walmart, Target and PDC Healthcare in Port Orange, and Ryan Homes, Terrio said.

The idea of packaging 10,000 meals is a Chick-fil-A effort that encourages businesses to give back to the community they serve, said Brandon James, operating partner at the Port Orange restaurant. He shared the idea with Chris Kirby the owner of the Chick-fil-A, as well as the one in Daytona Beach, and Vance Smith, owner of the Edgewater store, and they agreed it was good one, James said.

"Daily, we give our leftover food at the end of the night to local food banks already, so we just want to do it on larger scale," James said.

"I just see a lot of need here," said Kirby, who grew up in Volusia County.

Kirby said he has been involved with Chick-fil-A in the community for a long time and has seen the need to help the underprivileged.

Smith said he is aware of the needy in the community through his church, Edgewater Alliance, that has also had programs to help people in the past.

"We mostly send the help overseas, to Honduras, but this time we are going to feed locally," Smith said.

In introducing himself, Daffy told the Chick-fil-A team members and volunteers that in the state of Florida 1 out of 9 people suffers from food insecurity.

"That means they don't know where the next meal is coming from. And we believe it's unacceptable that so many have to make the tough decision between putting a healthy meal on the table or keeping the electricity on," Daffy said. "You are alleviating some of that burden."

Employees who packaged the food to feed the needy in Volusia said they were happy to help U.S. Hunger keep its mission of "feeding families today to guide them to a healthier tomorrow."

"Why not? Who else is going to do it?" said Doree Derrick, marketing manager for Daytona Beach Chick-fil-A. "You know biblically standing, they say 'who is going to go?' That's what we stand for."

John Morris, a senior director at the Chick-fil-A in Port Orange, said the atmosphere was "electric" Sunday.

"You could just tell everyone is having a good time helping out people," he said. "It just warms my heart."

Joliene Smith, who works at the Edgewater restaurant said "it's a joy and a privilege" to help the community.

"And that's why I love working for Chick-fil-A because Chick-fil-A encourages us to be a big part of our community."

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daytona, Port Orange Chick-fil-A workers package 10,000 meals for needy Volusia residents