Orange County leaders, volunteers pack 1 million meals on Martin Luther King Jr. Day

County Mayor Demings, City of Orlando Commissioner Burns and U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost joined thousands of volunteers at the Orange County Convention Center on Martin Luther King Jr. Day for a one-million-meal packing event meant to draw attention to food insecurity in Central Florida.

"It is a priority in this community to feed those in need, and this event increases awareness of food insecurity and how we can all take action on this day of service," County Mayor Demings said as he welcomed attendees and thanked partners and volunteers. He cited a Feeding America statistic, saying "1 in 7 individuals in Central Florida are facing hunger, and 1 in 6 children live in households that are food insecure."

Commissioner Burns, speaking for the City of Orlando's mayoral MLK Commission, echoed those figures and urged volunteers to view them as neighbors and family. "These are not just statistics. They represent our neighbors, our friends, and our families," Burns said before introducing Congressman Maxwell Frost.

"Leading with love is so important," Rep. Maxwell Frost said, urging continued community action and noting that "behind every number, there's a person, there's a human who's gonna have a meal in front of them." Speakers described the event as the county's third year hosting the one-million-meal pack and thanked corporate and community sponsors named in the program.

Event organizers and the emcee named Kroger; Sara Lee Bridal (Bimbo Bakeries USA); Clear Channel; Wells Fargo; ARC; and NAVAC among sponsors and thanked the Orange County Convention Center for providing the space. The emcee also stated that over the three years of the event the community will have packed "over 3,000,000 meals" and that "nearly 13 and a half thousand people" have participated across those years.

Organizers framed the day as a way to turn Martin Luther King Jr.'s message of service into local action, and the program concluded with a call to begin packing: "Let's get out there and pack those meals."