{"id":46252,"date":"2025-11-14T08:10:21","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T08:10:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/46252\/"},"modified":"2025-11-14T08:10:21","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T08:10:21","slug":"orange-county-food-drive-helps-families-hit-by-shutdown-jamaica-hurricane-victims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/46252\/","title":{"rendered":"Orange County food drive helps families hit by shutdown, Jamaica hurricane victims"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. \u2013 Families who rely on SNAP benefits could still be waiting weeks for assistance to resume, after President Donald Trump signed a government funding bill<\/a> that ended the record 43-day shutdown.<\/p>\n

That delay has local Democrats and Republicans joining forces, putting politics aside to help families in need through a new bipartisan relief effort called Orange County United for Jamaica and for Orange County.<\/p>\n

The drive is collecting nonperishable food, baby items, toiletries, Gatorade, and pet food for Central Florida families affected by the shutdown and for hurricane victims in Jamaica. Clothing donations are not being accepted.<\/p>\n

[WATCH BELOW: Dollars & Sense: Shutdown shakes the housing market]<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter what party you belong to, people are struggling across our community,\u201d said Sammy Vilchez Santiago, chair of the Orange County Democratic Party. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen an affordability crisis for a long time, and the shutdown has made things even harder, especially with SNAP benefits not being there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The main drop-off site is located at 1400 Jordan Ave. in Orlando and will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday. A secondary location at Sutherlin Nissan on East Colonial Drive is already open and accepting donations through Friday evening.<\/p>\n

The effort is also getting a boost from the Apartment Association of Greater Orlando, which has pledged $5,000 in aid toward this week\u2019s drive.<\/p>\n

Local Republican representative Randy Ross said the collaboration sends a message that unity can go a long way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it sets an example for people in D.C.,\u201d Ross said. \u201cWhen Democrats and Republicans work together, it doesn\u2019t cost us anything. Unity is priceless, and together, we can accomplish anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Organizers say the collection runs through the end of the week, and even small donations can make a difference, especially as families wait for SNAP benefits to be fully restored.<\/p>\n

[WATCH BELOW: Flight cancellations mount at Orlando International Airport amid government shutdown impacts]<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. \u2013 Families who rely on SNAP benefits could still be waiting weeks for assistance to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46253,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1335,139,141,140,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-46252","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-orange-county","9":"tag-orlando","10":"tag-orlando-headlines","11":"tag-orlando-news","12":"tag-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46252","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=46252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46252\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}