APOPKA, Fla. — The Hope Community Center is calling for the public’s help for food donations.

Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, their main provider of food, says dollars allowing the nonprofit to access its food ran dry at the end of December.

Another source of funding starts at the end of April for another three years. Meanwhile, staff at Hope are calling on churches, schools and businesses to donate rice, beans, canned proteins, baby food, diapers and anything else on their accepted donations list.

“Our pantries are very, very low,” said Meilyn Santana, Hope’s Chief of Staff. “Most of the food we have to offer to the community at the moment are snacks. This is not what the community needs at the moment.”

Greg Higgerson at the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida says pantries in Orange County have been benefitting from ARPA dollars tied to the pandemic.

The food bank uses those funds to buy large quantities of food, then nonprofits receive dollars as credits.

Higgerson says Hope Community Center’s funds ran out in December, and the next round of support will happen this spring.

“There’s an interim period where they definitely need help,” said Higgerson.

Santana says the increasing cost of food and threats of trade wars means low-income communities are facing continuing challenges.

“For the immigrant community at the moment, there’s so much uncertainty not a lot of jobs,” she said. “So having a pantry that’s stocked is very, very important.”

Food donations can be dropped off at the Hope Community Center’s Park Avenue location.