Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County has extended the Farm to Family food program through at least summer thanks to the help of donors. Farm to Family supplies a week’s worth of groceries to more than 1,100 Club family members every week. Since the program started back in March after the pandemic impacted the economy, Farm to Family has supplied groceries to 52,000 people. The original program in partnership with Fresh RX Kids and Living Hungry supplied Club families with organic vegetables from local farmers and was scheduled to end.

Now that the local growing season is over, a generous donation from  Buccan Provisions allowed for the continuation of the program. Today the charity arm of the restaurant group known for the popular Buccan restaurant on Palm Beach and Grato in West Palm Beach, supplied 825 boxes of produce. The 25-pound boxes will feed a family of four for at least a week and were distributed to families at Clubs throughout Palm Beach County.

“As chefs, we show our love and support by feeding people and knew we had to mobilize to nourish our community. We have been honored to be able to focus our energy to directly support our community in ways that we hadn’t dreamed possible before. We are happy to be here for them now and want to continue to provide for them and give them hope going forward,” said Chef Zach and Jennifer Bell of Buccan Provisions. “We are currently looking for space to increase our production facility and give Buccan Provisions a permanent home here in Palm Beach County. At the end of the day, we are just doing what we love: feeding people.”

In addition to the produce boxes, Buccan Provisions has also donated 20,000 prepared meals over the past 12 weeks. Each nutritious and delicious meal contains a protein, starch and vegetable.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County surveyed parents if an extension of the food program was necessary. Parents asked for the program to be extended since the economic impact from the pandemic has not improved in most communities. Parents say the weekly groceries have been a lifeline during a very difficult time.

“Receiving the groceries has helped me feed my children so that I have money to pay the bills that keep coming in,” said Diane Langston, a mother of three children who attend Marjorie S. Fisher Boys & Girls Club. “This is a relief for me, and a reduction in the burden felt with all of the financial pressure coming in. We’re very thankful and feel very blessed that this is a service that has been provided for us.”