Food aid can be right around corner

When Hurricane Georges hit Puerto Rico in 1998, Claribel Lebron lost power for a month, water for two weeks and had to wait five days for a few food vouchers from the Salvation Army.

Lebron figured when she moved to Winter Park in July that she had left that sort of inconvenience behind. Then Hurricane Charley barreled through, and it was Puerto Rico all over again -- with one difference.

This time, after four days without power and running low on food and patience, Lebron could pack up her three young children and disabled mother into her car and head over to the feeding station at Union Park Middle School for a hot meal and some supplies.

“We are tired of eating cold sandwiches,” Lebron said, as she and her children munched on cheeseburgers provided by a Salvation Army van. “In Puerto Rico when there was a hurricane it was worse. Not so fast, like in Florida.”

The Lebrons and more than 450 families like hers have eaten nearly 1,500 meals at the feeding station on Westfall Drive this week.

They are the recipients of a combined effort of Orange County, the Salvation Army, the Red Cross and volunteers from the community.

County employees and unpaid volunteers developed an assembly line for the Tuesday dinnertime rush. They offered bedraggled hurricane victims bags of bananas and applesauce, gallon jugs of water and sandwiches.

Across the school parking lot, a Salvation Army van from Vidalia, Ga., provided hot meals.

Shirley Brown, the site coordinator, said she had seen a steady stream of people each day and expected the flow to continue.

“As long as the food keeps coming in we’ll be here,” Brown said. “We’ll be here through Friday for sure, and maybe beyond.”

Mostly families were lined up for food, and many had similar stories to tell -- power out since Charley hit, no more food, no other way to get any.

“We used up all of our money and now we have nothing,” said Amy Smith. “We can’t take it anymore.”

Orange County feeding stations are at University High School, 11550 Lokanotosa Trail; Union Park Middle School, 1844 Westfall Drive; and Oak Ridge High School, 6000 S. Winegard Road.

In Kissimmee, go to the Osceola Square Mall at 3831 Vine St.

At all four locations, lunch will be served from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and dinner from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

In addition, two Red Cross mobile kitchens will be roaming the worst-hit areas of Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties today.

“When disasters hit, people kind of view them as ice cream trucks,” said Robert Schimmelpfennig, a Red Cross volunteer who has served meals from the trucks during previous disasters.

The trucks, which look like ambulances but have a Red Cross insignia on them, are staffed by a driver and two meal-servers.

If a street is blocked, the trucks will stop at the corner and offer free food to people busy cleaning up debris or people without power.

Melissa Harris of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Brian Baskin can be reached at 407-420-5446 or bbaskin@orlandosentinel.com.