HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – From her living room in Hollywood, Nadine McCrea began feeding people in need with basic pantry staples.
“So I started fixing peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and I couldn’t believe I fixed a whole roll of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and they were still standing at my door waiting for something to eat,” said McCrea.
More than four decades later, McCrea is still helping the hungry through a nonprofit she founded and now operates in the Washington Park neighborhood.
“I believe in community, added McCrea. “I enhance the community and collaboration brings all of us together. That’s why the name is named Community Enhancement Collaboration. The name means a lot to me and it means a lot to others.”
Others include 87-year-old Artie McElroy, a great-grandmother who’s been picking up food at Community Enhancement Collaboration for ten years.
“It’s a blessing to have somewhere to come to,” said McElroy. “I give to the people that can’t come. If they can’t come, I share with them, because that’s who I am.”
McElroy is part of a growing number of seniors who struggle to put healthy food on the table. According to Feeding America, almost seven million seniors, age 60 and older, in America were food insecure in 2022.
“When I look at how I’m surviving, I think about how our seniors are surviving, and we just want to make sure that we have enough food in our house that’s free for our seniors to come here and shop,” said McCrea.
As part of Local 10′s Food for Thought campaign and in partnership with Publix, Community Enhancement Collaboration received a delivery of fresh vegetables and shelf-stable items for the fifty seniors who receive food every Tuesday as part of the nonprofit’s weekly Senior Shopping Day.
“How much does it help?” we asked Helen Garzon. “A lot,” she replied. “I am working and I have a grandchild.”
“We want to make sure that anytime there is an opportunity for us to address food insecurity, we are there,” said Robyn Hankerson Printemps, Publix’s Community Relations Manager.“ It’s really part of our duty as associates to give back and make sure that these seniors know that no matter what is going on in their lives that they can at least rely on a meal.”
The homemade peanut butter and jelly meal that started it all has produced a strong network of public and private partners dedicated to eradicating hunger.
“What one group can do on their own is multiplied so many times when we come together for a common purpose and in this case, it’s to make sure that our seniors are not experiencing hunger,” said Commissioner Idelma Quintana of District 6 in Hollywood.
For 40 years and counting, Community Enhancement Collaboration has been committed to serving its neighbors in need. The organization distributes food four times a week and runs more than 30 programs to help Hollywood residents.
“This is what we’re all about,” said McCrea. “We are just here to serve the public.”
To find out more about the organization, visit https://www.cecwashpark.org/ or call 954-987-0625.