Guest Commentary | Welcome 2026
As we begin a new year, I find myself reflecting on what our community has endured and what we have achieved together.
The past year brought significant challenges for families across Southwest Florida. High food prices persisted, and when the federal government shut down and SNAP benefits were temporarily paused, many households suddenly found themselves without essential support. For families already facing financial strains, the impacts were immediate and severe. Even now, permanent cuts to federal assistance programs continue to strain thousands of our neighbors.
In moments like these, the strength of our community becomes evident. Throughout 2025, donors, volunteers, agency partners and neighbors stepped forward with compassion and determination. Because of this collective effort, Harry Chapin Food Bank distributed 38.6 million pounds of food last year. That is more than 32 million meals for children, seniors, veterans and families who needed to know they were not alone. One neighbor, Carla, shared a message that stayed with me: “Having just one neighbor who cares is everything.” Her words capture the heart of our mission and the spirit of this community.
Last year also marked meaningful progress toward our future. We broke ground on the new Hunger Action Center in Fort Myers, a purpose-built facility that will dramatically expand our capacity to source, store and distribute nutritious food.
And in the months ahead, we will share more information about a new center in Naples that will strengthen our reach and ensure more families across Collier County have access to the food they need.
These projects represent more than expanded space and new equipment. They represent stability for families, certainty for partners and our shared commitment to meeting rising needs with strength and compassion. They represent hope.
As we welcome 2026, I am filled with gratitude. Gratitude for the volunteers who give their time with open hearts, for the supporters who believe in this mission, and for our partners and neighbors who continue to lift one another up, proving time and again that Southwest Florida is strongest when we stand together.
I look forward to the year ahead and to the work we will continue to do as a community. Together, we are building a future where no one goes to bed hungry.
Richard LeBer is the president and CEO of Harry Chapin Food Bank, Southwest Florida’s largest hunger-relief nonprofit and the region’s only Feeding America partner food bank.