ORLANDO, Fla. — A line of about hundred volunteers stretches out from beneath a red canopy tent, the side of which reads “One Heart for Women & Children.” Stephanie Bowman, One Heart’s spunky, personable CEO, weaves throughout the crowd, thanking every volunteer she sees as from a white truck, also emblazoned with One Heart’s logo, a multitude of boxes are unloaded: produce, jugs of water, snacks, and other items, all of it fresh and ready to be distributed to those in need.

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These mobile food drives, hosted by One Heart once a month, are the crux of the non-profit’s mission which, in Bowman’s words, is “to end hunger, empower hope, and build community.” And community, says Bowman, is one of the “big reasons” why she loves the City of Orlando.

“This is the city I started serving in when I was eight years old,” Bowman said. “And I don’t remember a time in those 51 years when [I] wasn’t serving or giving back somehow. My favorite part [of living in Orlando] is being able to serve here in the community, not just serve the people that need it, but also the people that come in and volunteer.”

Bowman began dedicating her life to service during her first year in Orlando at the age of eight. For Bowman, it was a trip to a local soup kitchen that inspired her journey, a trip she says she will “never forget.”

READ: Orlando Celebrates 150th Anniversary with Volunteer Events Throughout the City

“I remember the first woman I met,” she said. “When she came in and sat down, I remember my mom saying, ‘let her sit, and go take this food over to her and her children.’ I’ll never forget that, because I actually got to talk to somebody that was my age that was homeless.”

It would not be her last. In fact, Bowman herself would experience homelessness when she was 32 years old.

“When I ended up homeless, my children were young, and somebody came and served us the way that, at eight years old, I was able to serve somebody else,” Bowman said. “So, I think the beautiful part about this city is [that] so much just comes full circle.”

Volunteers line up to add their names to the sign-up list before pitching in at the food drive. (Emily Ching)

Service has since become the cornerstone of Bowman’s life, as a passion for volunteering morphed into Bowman pursuing something bigger: starting her own non-profit. One Heart for Women & Children is the product of that full circle-ness that Bowman described and, to her, is the “best way to give back” to the city that, over the years, has given so much to her.

That’s why being part of the city’s 150th birthday celebration means so much to her, and why One Heart and their partners, Second Harvest and Elevation Church, are giving this event their all.

“Today, we get to do our most fun and biggest event of the month where we are distributing about 40,000 to 60,000 pounds of food to the community, equaling to about 400 to 500 cars,” explained Samanta Espinoza, the Executive Assistant of One Heart for Women & Children. “That’s thousands of individuals."

To further the food drive’s impact, One Heart joined forces with their longtime partners Elevation Church Orlando, a local congregation to whom community service is a defining part of their mission, and Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, a private, non-profit organization that "collects, stores and distributes donated food to more than 870 feeding partners in seven Central Florida counties."

Amber Browne, a coordinator with the church’s Outreach team, is one of the food drive’s many volunteers, and a longtime Orlando resident. To her, the event is not only a great way through which to foster the “special” partnership between the church and One Heart, but to give back to the community on what she calls a “special day.”

“It’s so meaningful to have several different organizations come together to work in a unified front, to be able to help our community, our city,” said Browne. “And [to do that] on the birth date of our city, this is just amazing. It’s a really beautiful statement that we’re all coming together on such a special day.”

Volunteers at Orlando's 150th anniversary food drive wear "Hello, My Name Is..." stickers as they unpack fresh goods. (Emily Ching)

It’s a sentiment echoed by Stephanie Palacios, the Director of Government Relations for Second Harvest. Palacios, a UCF graduate, moved to Central Florida in 1996 and has been with Second Harvest for almost four years, having been inspired to join the bank’s parent company, Feeding America, by her former colleague Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy. To Palacios, the words “Orlando” and “community” are inextricable from each other, each term practically defining the other.

“The word ‘community’ means what we are doing here today,” Palacios explained. “We’re distributing over 43,000 pounds of food to citizens of Orlando. This type of event happens almost every day here in Central Florida [and today], we’re doing it in partnership with amazing organizations who call Orlando home. That’s what ‘community’ means, and that’s what Orlando is. We’re a community that’s here to serve others.”

As volunteers swarm the pallets, unpacking goods and separating them into individual parcels, District 3 City Commissioner Robert Stuart pitches in, shaking hands and lifting boxes, all the while flashing a smile. Stuart, a native Orlandoan whose father first moved here in 1928, has served as City Commissioner for five terms, amassing a near 20 years of service to Orlando.

“We have a wonderful, caring community, a community that wants to make change, and also wants to celebrate our diversity and the people that are here,” said Stuart. “We started in 1875 with about 200 residents in all of Orlando. By the turn of the century, [there were] about 12,000. Now, in my district alone, there’s 60,000 people. It’s been great to watch that, while being involved in that leadership and seeing the changes that’ve happened in Orlando, and knowing I’ve played a small part is special to me.”

Orlando’s progress and overall growth is, in Stuart’s words, due in part to one thing, the idea that serves as the foundation for this very food drive: community.

“Every time we’ve had some kind of milestone, we’ve always tied community service to that milestone,” Stuart said. “So today, we’ve putting on six different service projects in six different districts throughout the entire city. And then, we’re going to celebrate this evening all together, which we’re excited about.

“I think what [this event] says to the community is that if you really want a community, you’ve got to give back. I was taught by my dad years ago that, if you have the honor of having a business that helps you make money, then your obligation is to give back to the community. And so, that’s what we do. So, you’re going to see hundreds of volunteers here today giving away almost 50,000 pounds of food. And, in addition to that, it’s going to help 400 to 500 families. It’s going to be replicated throughout the entire community. And why? Because it’s the right thing to do.”

There’s a potent excitement in the air at this event, a sense of optimism you can almost feel radiating off every person in attendance. Perhaps it’s the result of that dominating theme of “community,” hundreds of Orlandoans coming together for one common goal of service. Or maybe, it stems from hope; when asked what they look forward to concerning Orlando’s next 150 years, each person responded with a vision of continued progress and unity, of a step towards the future, taken altogether, a sentiment best expressed by City Commissioner Stuart.

“I think [Orlando is] going to continue to grow,” Stuart said. “One of the challenges we always had with Orlando was that people came through Orlando to go someplace else. We are big enough now that people come here and stay. We’ve taken [the population] from 200 to 320,000. I can’t imagine what the next 150 years are going to be like.

“But I can tell you this: if we keep this feeling that everybody’s going to be involved, everybody’s going to be included. Because it’s our city. That’s the best part of Orlando."

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