MAKING EVERY MILE MATTER

Some barriers are easy to see. Others are parked in a maintenance garage.

At Our Daily Bread Food Pantry, there is no shortage of compassion. Volunteers show up ready to serve. Community partners generously donate food. Families know where to turn when they need help. Yet one of the greatest challenges facing the pantry today isn’t collecting food, it’s delivering it. That’s why NAPEO Gives Back is proud to partner with Our Daily Bread Food Pantry as our 2026 charitable organization.

For those who may be unfamiliar with NAPEO Gives Back, it is our opportunity each year to come together in support of a nonprofit serving the community that hosts the Annual Conference and Marketplace. At its core, NAPEO Gives Back is built on the power of many. When members from across the country combine their generosity, time, talents, and resources, we create an impact far greater than any one company or individual could make alone. This year, that collective effort will help keep food moving throughout Marco Island and Collier County.

On Marco Island, hunger doesn’t always look the way people imagine. Sometimes it’s a child quietly slipping extra apples into a backpack because the weekend is long. Sometimes it’s an older adult choosing between groceries and medication. Sometimes it’s a family waiting for the mobile pantry because reliable transportation simply isn’t available.

For years, Our Daily Bread Food Pantry has been a lifeline for families throughout the community. Their impact extends far beyond the walls of a traditional food pantry. Last year alone, the organization packed more than 20,000 weekend backpacks for students, served 1,019 households through Saturday pantry events, and delivered food to 66,744 households through its mobile pantry program.

Those numbers represent more than meals. They represent children who can focus in school, parents who can stretch a paycheck a little further, and seniors who don’t have to choose between filling a prescription and filling the refrigerator.

The pantry has more than 250 dedicated volunteers ready to serve. Food donations continue to arrive from generous community partners. The need is clear, and the commitment is unwavering. The challenge is getting that food to the people waiting for it.

An aging truck has reached the end of its service. Another delivery van requires frequent repairs under the Florida sun. Every breakdown means fewer deliveries, fewer families served, and fewer opportunities to provide fresh, nutritious food to neighbors who depend on the pantry’s outreach.

One of the things I appreciate most about the PEO community is that when we see a need, we don’t simply acknowledge it, we come together to solve it. Every day, PEOs help businesses remove barriers so employers and employees can succeed. Through NAPEO Gives Back, we have an opportunity to remove a different kind of barrier, one that stands between families and the food they need.

Throughout the 2026 Annual Conference and Marketplace, attendees will have multiple opportunities to support Our Daily Bread through our annual silent auction, sponsorship opportunities, and direct giving campaign. Together, we hope to help fund the vehicles and transportation needs that keep food moving throughout the community, including a van for community outreach and food drives, a truck for supermarket pickups, and critical repairs that will keep the pantry’s fleet on the road.

The power of many begins with one act of generosity. One donation. One silent auction item. One sponsorship. Together, those individual contributions become the miles that carry food to families throughout the community.

Before we leave Marco Island, we have an opportunity to leave something behind that will continue serving families long after the conference ends. Long after the exhibit hall closes. Long after we all return home. Every contribution helps keep food moving. Every mile driven represents hope delivered.

I invite every member of our PEO community to join us in supporting Our Daily Bread Food Pantry. Whether you donate, contribute an item to the silent auction, become a sponsor, or simply help share their story, your generosity will help ensure that transportation never becomes the reason a family goes hungry.

Together, we can make every mile matter.