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Orlando Magic Continue to Fight Hunger in Central Florida

Josh Cohen
Digital News Manager

By Josh Cohen
May 31, 2016

ORLANDO – Regardless of whether it’s basketball season or not, one of the Orlando Magic’s priorities is to be out in communities across Central Florida and help people live healthier.

So, it was no surprise that the Magic were at the Christian Service Center in Orlando on Tuesday, May 31 to serve meals to underprivileged local residents through The Daily Bread program.

Magic Community Ambassadors Nick Anderson and Bo Outlaw along with several other Magic staff served a nourishing noontime meal to more than 300 people.

“When you are out here and are helping those less fortunate, it is a blessing,” Anderson said. “I remember Mr. (Rich) DeVos saying this team belongs to the community. It’s a wonderful thing to do.”

“This is what we do, trying to make a difference in the community,” Outlaw said. “I get the most joy by seeing the smiles on the faces. I appreciate the opportunity to come here and help.”

Some of the stats on hunger in Central Florida are staggering. Around 70 percent of households had to choose between paying for food and paying for rent/mortgage at least once in the past 12 months and 73 percent of households reported having to choose between paying for food or transportation (Statistics from the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida).

“Hunger is one of our focus areas with the Magic and we are so happy to have our staff and volunteers here to help support the cause,” Magic Assistant Director of Community Relations Latria Leak said. “For the Magic, every day is game day for us. We have no offseason when it comes to our community.”

The Magic are committed to fighting the issue of hunger. They have developed a Hoops for Hunger program, which consists of several activities throughout the year. Recently, the entire Magic staff and UnitedHealthcare staff assembled 12,000 food packs for the Hi-Five Kids Pack program. The Magic unveiled the second “Magic Love Pantry,” in partnership with the Outback Steakhouse, which provides local students with emergency food and basic hygiene items. They also served Thanksgiving breakfast for the 23rd straight year at the Coalition for the Homeless.

The Daily Bread program serves about 150,000 meals and roughly 3,000 to 3,500 people per year. It offers free nourishing noontime meals six days a week (Sunday to Friday) to anyone in the community who is hungry.

“Really important to have the Magic here because it really sends a signal to the rest of the community how important our program is in the community,” Executive Director of the Christian Service Center Robert Stuart said. “We are thrilled about the opportunity to be partnering with the Orlando Magic.”