Orlando Magic Helps Local Children; Unveils Third “Love Pantry” - OrlandoMagic.com

Orlando Magic Helps Local Children; Unveils Third “Love Pantry” - OrlandoMagic.com

By John Denton
Sept. 20, 2016

ORLANDO – If it truly takes a village to raise one child then it undoubtedly takes tremendous teamwork from several organizations to battle Central Florida’s troubling hunger issue among school children.

Hoping to bring some much-needed assistance and relief to those in the greatest of need, the Orlando Magic partnered with Amway, Dixon Ticonderoga and the Christian Service Center on Tuesday to bring smiles to the faces of approximately 50 students at Sanford’s Pine Crest Elementary School.

Volunteers from all of those organizations filled Pine Crest’s “Love Pantry” and packed backpacks full of common food staples and hygiene items so that the 50 children on hand could take them home to their families at no cost.

The Magic’s opening of a third “Love Pantry” – and the first in Seminole County – is a part of the team’s “Hoops for Hunger” program and is in support of Hunger Action Month.

Holding pink backpacks in one hand and blue backpacks in the other while ignoring the sweat beading up on his brow, Dixon Ticonderoga CEO Tim Gomez smiled ear to ear upon seeing the joy on the faces of the children. He also took great delight in seeing how the Magic, Dixon Ticonderoga, Amway and the Christian Service Center came together to organize an event that will help children and families in desperate need of assistance.

“There’s a lot of work that we have to do because there are more than 200,000 children in Central Florida who we try to reach and we distribute more than $1.5 million in products annually to kids in need,” said Gomez, who also handed out 2-, 3- and 4-foot prop pencils to delighted children. “The one event that Dixon Ticonderoga employees look forward to is the one with the Magic. The Magic are the community and they inspire us all to work together.’’

Teaming up with the Christian Service Center, the Magic organized Tuesday’s event in support of Hunger Action Month. The Magic have now opened three Love Pantries throughout Central Florida to assist children and families battling through the area’s hunger epidemic. The Magic helped to open Love Pantries at Hungerford Elementary and Rosemont Elementary last year.

“We’re so excited to be a part of this amazing initiative to make sure that these kids are taking home food for their families and for their nourishment,’’ Amway Community Representative Kelly Norton said. “It’s something that we strongly believe in at Amway. From (founder) Mr. (Rich) DeVos to Amway and (the Magic), both organizations have such a strong belief in this initiative.”

Added Magic Assistant Director of Community Relations Latria Leak: “The Magic truly believe that when it comes to you – our community – every day is game day.”

The Love Pantry is an initiative of the Christian Service Center in partnership with Orange and Seminole County Public Schools. Since the program’s inception in 2011, more than 8,000 family members in 63 Love Pantries through Orange and Seminole County schools have been provided food, hygiene items and community resource information. Each school is provided a lockable cabinet supplied with food and hygiene items and they are re-stocked weekly by volunteers.

Tuesday’s event was held at Pine Crest Elementary, a Title I school where 90 percent of the students are receiving either free or reduced lunches. On this day, some 50 students filled backpacks with supplies such as instant mashed potatoes, beef ravioli, Toasted Oats cereal, peanut butter and jelly, green beans, peach slices, tuna fish, mac and cheese and spaghetti noodles and sauce.

“What is the best part of this is an unseen number and that is we’re seeing an increasing number of people coming to our other programs and asking for help,” said Robert Stuart, executive director of the Christian Service Center. “Now, they can get permanent and long-term help. It’s not designed to have a child just take care of food as it is to use food to open up other services. If we can (create long-term solutions), we can change the community and that’s our way of doing that.”

Stuart has long been a champion of the tireless work that the Magic do in the community, saying, “they have always had a commitment with helping those in need.” That commitment can be seen in other ways such as the Magic and UnitedHealthCare assembling 12,500 food packs each of the past four years and the organization’s tradition of serving Thanksgiving breakfast to those at the Coalition for the Homeless for the past 23 years in a row.

“I go back to the days when Mr. DeVos first purchased this team and he said, ‘This team belongs to the community,’ and I can vouch for him that he meant it that day because I heard the words come out of his mouth,” said Magic Community Ambassador Nick Anderson, a standout player with the franchise from 1989-98. “Nothing has changed since that day because this organization is serious about helping the community.”

Added Gomez, the CEO at Dixon Ticonderoga: “It’s really difficult for a company our size – Dixon Ticonderoga is a household name for writing instruments – but it can be difficult for us to reach all of the needs of the community, but the Magic bring it all together for us in a way that allows us to contribute. This is something that the Magic do 365 days a year. … I work with many other CEOs in Central Florida and the one rallying point is the Orlando Magic. Every time we do something in the community, the Magic are front and center.’’

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