{"id":44491,"date":"2025-11-13T00:13:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T00:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/44491\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T00:13:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T00:13:07","slug":"up-orlando-raises-money-for-food-assistance-with-weekend-5k","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/44491\/","title":{"rendered":"UP Orlando raises money for food assistance with weekend 5K"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014\u00a0Leaders with United Against Poverty Orlando<\/a> are distributing thousands of dollars worth of grocery vouchers to families who need to put food on the table.<\/p>\n

But with the holiday season approaching, the organization is finding ways to fund that initiative.<\/p>\n

What You Need To Know<\/p>\n

United Against Poverty Orlando leaders say they distribute $2,000-$3,000 each day through grocery vouchers
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About 60 new members sign up each day, increasing the organization’s clientele\u00a0
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UP Orlando is hosting its annual 5K this weekend to raise money for food vouchers and its Thanksgiving meal distribution\u00a0
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Quack Attack on Poverty 5K starts at 8 a.m. at Lake Baldwin on Saturday, Nov. 15<\/p>\n

UP Orlando staff have placed signs outside the grocery store regarding $20 SNAP support vouchers. Executive Director Anjali Vaya said the organization gives out close to $2,000-$3,000 a day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing new member memberships surge \u2014 as well as our existing clients who might\u2019ve used us in the past, we started seeing them come back to the facility,\u201d Vaya said.<\/p>\n

From 850 to 900 people visit the campus for services, when normally she would see about 600 people, she said. About 60 new members sign up each day.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe difference that I\u2019m seeing is that we still have our semi[trucks] coming in every morning, but the issue is really by 1 or 2 (p.m.), these shelves start to empty out,\u201d Vaya said.<\/p>\n

Myrtle Brooks is a SNAP recipient and a new shopper at UP Orlando.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people have lost their jobs, laid off,” Brooks said. “That makes it difficult not only for them, but for their families. And seniors who get SNAP and parents who have little children who get SNAP, they don\u2019t get that now, and we don\u2019t know when we\u2019re going to get it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said she isn\u2019t hosting Thanksgiving this year because of costs, but she is sticking to her faith \u2014 praying for herself and others to make it through this challenge together.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s difficult. It\u2019s very difficult. A lot of people are wondering where their next dime for the rent is gonna come and their car payments and their credit cards,\u201d Brooks said.<\/p>\n

Vouchers are distributed weekdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. After that, the emergency food pantry is open for shoppers.<\/p>\n

However, the vouchers are not part of the organization\u2019s operational budget. Vaya said she thanks donors and community partners for supporting the program, but she\u2019s hoping to raise extra funds this weekend.<\/p>\n

UP Orlando is hosting its annual Quack Attack on Poverty 5K on Saturday, Nov. 15. It begins at 8 a.m at Lake Baldwin.<\/p>\n

Proceeds will help fund the vouchers, along with Hopeful Harvest \u2014 the group\u2019s holiday program. Vaya said 450 pre-registered families will receive free Thanksgiving meals on Nov. 24. They will distribute another 400 meals off-site in food deserts in Eatonville and Apopka.<\/p>\n

For more information, visit UP Orlando at 150 W. Michigan St. or call 407-650-0774.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014\u00a0Leaders with United Against Poverty Orlando are distributing thousands of dollars worth of grocery vouchers to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44492,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[767,6506,274,770,1015,28,575,2582,115,768,139,141,140,278],"class_list":{"0":"post-44491","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-app-community","9":"tag-app-food","10":"tag-app-top-stories","11":"tag-community-news","12":"tag-emma-delamo","13":"tag-florida","14":"tag-food","15":"tag-government-shutdown","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-orange-county-fl","18":"tag-orlando","19":"tag-orlando-headlines","20":"tag-orlando-news","21":"tag-top-stories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}