KISSIMMEE, Fla. — None of the 350 or so families leaves empty-handed on food pickup day at St. John's Episcopal Church in Kissimmee, and much of that is thanks to Yvonne Bosch.

  • Yvonne Bosch coordinates distribution of food from food bank
  • She has to get up before dawn on pickup days at 3 churches
  • "It fills me to help those in need," she says of her efforts

Bosch is in charge of the logistics behind distributing food from Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, which is in Orlando, to several churches in Kissimmee.

Bosch has to wake up early to get to the churches before crowds start forming. People arrive hoping to fill their boxes, bags, and carts with groceries, and that's exactly what they get.

"I do it out of the love of God," Bosch says. "It fills me to help those in need."

Bosch makes sure pallets of food are unloaded successfully and coordinates volunteers to help her hand out meals.

"By me knowing that I am providing at least two to three meals by what I give them, it gratifies me that they are not starving and they're not losing out on the elements they need to eat," she says.

"At one point in life, it could have been me."

Bosch is a volunteer herself, through an organization called the Church and Community Assistance Program. It may be unpaid, but she says it's rewarding in ways you cannot count.

But others might beg to differ.

"She is an excellent human being. We need more people like Yvonne. She is truly a special angel in my heart," Nide Aquino, a struggling Kissimmee resident who often participates in these food distributions, said in Spanish.

"I find that what I am doing is out the grace of God. He’s the one who lifts me up to do it every time I come to do it," Bosch says. "It gratifies me to be able to help for all of this."

"I don’t find myself to be a hero," Bosch says.

Kissimmee food pickup times

St. John’s Episcopal Church

  • 1709 North John Young Parkway, Kissimmee, 34741
  • Has a food pantry the first and third Friday of the month from 1-3 p.m.

Hope Center

  • 1143 Parnell St., Kissimmee, 34741
  • Has a mobile food dropoff the first and third Monday of every month from 4-6 p.m.

House of Every Nation

  • 2719 Michigan Ave., Kissimmee, 34744
  • Has its next mobile food drop off scheduled for April 29 from 11 a.m.-3 p.m.