A CONTINUED HOLIDAY TRADITION FOR LOCAL THEATERS: FIGHTING HUNGER IN AREA SCHOOLS

A group of Central Florida theaters are coming together with Conway Cares to help children over the holidays. The collective includes Orlando Repertory Theatre, Orlando Shakes, Mad Cow Theatre, and Beth Marshall Presents with food drop-off locations at all four venues.

 

For the third year, Conway Cares – a Servant’s Heart Ministry hunger solution – is receiving assistance from local theaters to ensure that children struggling with food insecurity are not forgotten during the holiday season. Participating theaters act as food collection locations from December 1 through December 30, during regular operating hours. Items collected will then be distributed to four area schools and discreetly delivered to the children each Friday. This distribution ensures these children, who often rely on school breakfast and lunch programs as their main meal source, have food to sustain them over the weekends throughout the school year.

 

Preferred food items are as follows:

· Granola/ Cereal Bars
· Fruit Cups/ Applesauce Cups
· Cans of Pasta with easily removable lid
· Easy Mac
· Juice Boxes or Pouches
· Single-serve Cereals
· Peanut Butter Crackers
· Canned Veggies with easily removable lid

 

All items can be dropped off at any of the above-listed theater locations during operating hours and during performance times.

 

Conway Cares, a non-profit founded by Orlando Repertory Theatre Artistic Director Jeff Revels, has been serving the community since 2011. “After watching a 2011 60 Minutes report on children struggling with food insecurity right here in Central Florida, we started what has grown into Conway Cares the very next morning,” says Jeff Revels.

 

Servant’s Heart Ministries provides nutrition to society’s most vulnerable: the children and seniors of Central Florida. As noted by the ministry, 1 in 5 children in Central Florida are struggling with issues of hunger. Servant’s Heart Ministries coordinates with multiple local partners to train and equip them in the delivery of food directly to those in need. In conjunction with these local partners, the Ministries oversee the distribution of over 15,000 meals a year.

For Giving Tuesday this year, the staff of Orlando REP will be volunteering at the Servant’s Heart warehouse.

 

Any questions or interview requests regarding the food drive may be directed to Olivia Demarco at the Orlando Repertory Theatre at [email protected] or
407-896-7365 x228.