Boca Helping Hands asks snowbirds to donate pantry items before leaving

Jasmine Fernández, Palm Beach Post
·2 min read
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BOCA RATON — Not sure what to do with the items in your pantry as you prepare to leave for summer?

Boca Helping Hands might. The nonprofit is asking snowbirds and those who go away during the summer months to consider donating the nonperishables left in their pantries to them before they take off.

"We know that many people wonder what to do with the food in their pantry when they get ready to leave for the summer, and we hope they will think of Boca Helping Hands," said Greg Hazle, Boca Helping Hands' executive director.

Last year, the nonprofit served more than 103,000 hot meals and distributed more than 114,000 pantry bags of groceries to 10,075 families.

What is Boca Helping Hands?

Boca Helping Hands accepts donations of non-perishable items Monday through Saturday at 1500 NW 1st Court, Boca Raton, Florida, 33432.
Boca Helping Hands accepts donations of non-perishable items Monday through Saturday at 1500 NW 1st Court, Boca Raton, Florida, 33432.

It's a community-based nonprofit providing food, medical and financial assistance to people in the area since 1998. It started off as a soup kitchen, and now serves as one of South Florida's largest nonprofit service providers, with 23 staff members and more than 300 volunteers.

Through Boca Helping Hands, more than 35,000 South Floridia residents also have access to education, job training and guidance to help them become self-sufficient. In 2024, alone, more than 9,500 pantry bags have been distributed through Boca Helping Hands.

Welcome back, snowbirds: Here's what you missed in South Florida

How many snowbirds visit Florida each year?

Florida gets an estimated 900,000 to one million seasonal residents who stay for at least a month each winter. These travelers, who've come to be known as "snowbirds," raise the state's population by about 5%. The figure, however, does not include the state's yearly 122 million tourists.

In Palm Beach County, the number of snowbirds per year is around 145,000. They raise the county's population by about 11%, according to county figures.

How to donate non-perishable items to Boca Helping Hands:

Items to be donated can be dropped off at Boca Helping Hands, which is located at 1500 NW 1st Court, near the intersection of Dixie Highway and Glades Road. Hours of operation are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturdays. Boca Helping Hands is closed on Sundays.

Jasmine Fernández is a journalist covering Delray Beach and Boca Raton for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at jfernandez@pbpost.com and follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @jasminefernandz. Help support our work. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Boca Helping Hands asks snowbirds to donate non-perishable pantry items