First Lady Casey DeSantis visited the Wakulla Senior center during a food share
By LEGION TAYLOR
Reporter
First Lady Casey DeSantis paid a visit to the Wakulla Senior Center on Wednesday, during a food giveaway put on by Wakulla Giving Hands.
This visit comes as part of DeSantis’ Hope Florida initiative, which seeks to bolster the prosperity of Floridians and promote community collaboration, through the Hope Florida Fund. The fund, which is entirely paid for by Florida’s private sector, enables the state government the ability to easily award money to nonprofits across the state, such as the $20,000 that Wakulla Giving Hands was awarded at the event.
“Thanks to the generosity of the private sector, we have the opportunity through the Hope Florida Fund to support nonprofits that are making a difference in their communities,” said First Lady DeSantis in a news release from the Governor’s office. “It was heartwarming to meet with Wakulla Giving Hands today and volunteer alongside them as they serve Florida Seniors.”
The Senior Center has been partnering with Wakulla Giving Hands for the last two months; coordinating food shares at the senior center every other Wednesday. Giving Hands obtains food from local sources, including fresh fruit, vegetables, and meat, and with the help of the senior center distributes food to seniors in need.
“We see on average probably 100 to 175 people right now,” said Senior Center Director Lara Edwards. “And it’s growing. This is our fourth Wednesday… and we’re just seeing the numbers grow and grow.”
Wakulla Giving Hands also does other food shares around the community, and has recently begun to deliver food to those who are unable to make it to the food share events, providing for 500 people each week, according to a post made on the Wakulla Giving Hands Facebook page.
On Friday, people from Giving Hands traveled to Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare to hand out Easter baskets to the patients in the Children’s Center. The baskets included toys and activities to help the patients feel more comfortable during their stay.
“With the support of our community and donations like yours, patients and families can still experience some normalcy while in the hospital on holidays,” says Zoe Zablocki, Child Life Specialist at TMH, in an email that Wakulla Giving Hands posted to the group’s Facebook page.
