Coming up, voters overwhelmingly passed amendment two enshrining the right to fish and hunt in the Florida Constitution.

We learn why hunters are relieved that Floridians approve the measure, and why some wildlife advocates are concerned about what it means for the ecosystem and supplying humanity.

Stop by a Fort Myers food pantry that strives to deliver more than just groceries.

That story up next on Southwest Florida, in focus.

You're watching Southwest Florida InFocus coming up in just weeks.

The right to hunt and fish becomes part of our state constitution.

A deeper look at what the measure means for hunters and animal advocates.

And as many families continue to struggle with the cost of living, we head to one community food pantry that's doing its part to make sure no one in their community is left hungry this holiday season.

Plus, top voices and musicians are getting in the spirit for the annual FGCU holiday concert, and we're giving you the exclusive preview.

Hello, I'm Sandra Victorova.

Thank you very much for joining us.

Well, voters overwhelmingly passed amendment two, placing the right to hunt and fish in Florida's constitution.

While some remain concerned about its impact on the environment and wildlife.

Jennifer Crawford explains how this change to the Constitution aims at protecting traditions.

I have been hunting in Florida and around the country since before I could remember.

For Lee County residents Scott and Chrissy Rush.

Holy cow Crissy.

Hunting is not just a sport, it's a way of life.

They are passionate about preserving its history, its tradition, its some of the healthiest meat that exists.

It's a completely renewable resource.

It's organic.

It's absolutely the best nutrition that you can find.

So this is some of this year's harvest here.

We've got breakfast.

Like this is wild, hard harvested in September of 24.

We've got some venison.

Baxter up.

We've got ground venison creating and cooking up hearty dishes from their hunting trips around the country.

This is venison chili.

Just like you would make any other pot of chili.

Except this is all wild.

Game is routine for Christy and Scott and their family.

You have two girls.

They enjoyed growing up on the farm and hunting with us and eating and helping us process the meat.

They believe their fundamental right to hunt, passed down from generation to generation, comes with great responsibility to be good stewards of the land and the wildlife.

They know we work with the biologists to make sure that the right animals are being harvested, to allow them to reach their full potential.

Our hunt in Kansas, for instance, we passed up.

I don't even know how many legal whitetails over the ten days because we were wanting a fully mature animal.

They're grateful the right to hunt is now guaranteed by voters.

With the passage of amendment two.

Having that right to work now, it can't be taken away as a big deal.

Concerns about those rights being eroded are underscored in a recent report by the council to advance hunting and the shooting sports.

The nationwide study, funded in part by a grant from the U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service, reveals a downward trend in public support for both legal hunting and shooting, dropping from 81% in 2021 to 76% in 2024.

Declining public support of hunting and political efforts to ban or restrict hunting and fishing in other states alarmed Florida State Representative Lauren Melo from Naples, six states and the US from New Mexico to Oregon to California to Colorado, all had ballot initiatives to literally take away the right to fish and hunt.

Almost all of those initiatives involve specific animals, but each initiative failed.

Still, concerned restrictions could happen in Florida.

Melo agreed to sponsor the legislation necessary to get the right to Hunt and Fish amendment on the November ballot, and enshrined in the state constitution under Florida statutory law, hunting and fishing can be more easily restricted, with state lawmakers passing legislation.

However, with a constitutional amendment in place, it's substantially more difficult to restrict those same activities because voters decide it's a constitutional amendment.

The only way to change that is then once again, to go back and have another constitutional amendment that would again require 60% of Florida voters to approve changes, a high threshold difficult to reach while almost 7 million Floridians approved amendment two, more than 3 million did not, including Eve Sample's executive director of friends of the Everglades.

The right to fish and hunt are already very well protected, and Florida state statutes specifically chapter 379.

And we didn't, see a need for adding that kind of protection into the state constitution.

Sample says they're also opposed to the wording of the measure.

The language in the amendment includes designating fishing and hunting as the preferred method of wildlife management in Florida.

And preferred gives us pause because there are a lot of science, typically backed methods of wildlife management that are not hunting.

And if we're enshrining one method hunting into the state constitution, that could really box us in in the future.

The other part of the amendment that gave us pause in terms of its phrasing was its preservation of the use of, quote, traditional methods of hunting and fishing.

And the amendment didn't define what traditional means.

So we had had and continued her major misgivings about whether those traditional methods could bring back harmful practices, such as gill netting.

In Florida, Representative Melo assures that will not happen.

When I took this legislation on, I sat down with the Florida Wildlife Commission and sat down with their attorneys to ensure that whatever we currently had in law, whatever protections we had existing to protect wildlife, fish and, you know, any of the animals that it stayed in place.

But skeptics believe only time will tell.

The devil's in the details, and we really have to be careful about language we're putting into our state constitution so that it doesn't cause unintended consequences.

In the meantime, Crissy and Scott say relief is the immediate impact of the passage of amendment two.

Knowing their ability to hunt and fish, their heritage and family traditions can be passed down in perpetuity.

Now we have a granddaughter, and she's now a fourth generation Floridian on his side of the family.

And as she grows up and spends time with us in the woods and out on the water and having her be able to grow up with that right is important.

I'm Jennifer Crawford, reporting for WGCU news.

With the passage of amendment two in Florida, the Sunshine State now joins 22 other states that have enshrined the rights to hunt and or fish in their constitution.

Coming up, southwest Floridians are celebrating in different ways.

This December, we explore diverse traditions to bring in holidays like Christmas and show you the meaning behind festivities like Bowtie Day and Kwanzaa.

Following Thanksgiving, the Gladiolus Food Pantry provided turkey and fixings for nearly 1500 families in Fort Myers as a holiday season rolls along.

They continue to help families get more than just food on the table.

They deliver a sense of belonging in a Fort Myers neighborhood.

That's all them got for me.

Part of our mission is to treat everybody with dignity and respect in Harlem Heights.

A little green building has had a big impact on the community.

Since 2013, the Gladiola Food Pantry has assisted families by supplementing their meals with fresh produce, meats and nonperishable items.

I had the idea of the food pantry.

I was just thinking of Harlem Heights, you know?

But then it got to grow so much that we have helping over 10,000 families a year.

So I never thought the need was that big.

Working with groups like the Harry Chapin Food Bank and Midwest Food Banks, Miriam Ortiz has developed a communal congregation that helps thousands of families annually.

There's also a steady backbone of volunteers that support the food pantry.

We are over 200 volunteers that help me, run this place.

It looks easy, but it's not.

It's a lot of work.

Harlem Heights resident Carol Lindsey began coming to the food pantry after losing her job.

She says the assistance helps restore some of her humanity.

It keeps you from, going hungry, and it keeps you from making and borrowing from other people and building your family so your family can come up.

At least you have a daily meal every day and you feel proud of that meal that you're cooking for your family.

The pantry also allows people to select their own items instead of pre sorted supplies.

Believe it or not, they're saved from time to time and you don't have to throw nothing away.

Whatever you pick, you know you're going to eat it.

That's the way I feel about it.

And it makes you feel like you're shopping at a store.

So I really don't like when people say, oh, you're hungry, you eat anything and that doesn't work like that.

Whether it's bananas, eggs or fresh cut flowers.

Ortiz's goal is to bring more than just food to those in need, but a feeling of worth.

And people like that, Our Lady told us, she said.

Miriam, you made me feel human again.

She lost because you say I don't have money to buy food.

You think I'm going to have a bouquet of flowers in my house and say, I'm so glad that we can do that For WGCU News News.

I'm Tara Calligan reporting in Fort Myers.

Joining us now is Richard LaBer, the president and CEO of the Harry Chapin Food Bank.

Welcome, Mr. Lieber.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for having me.

So let's start with this.

How has inflation impacted hunger in Southwest Florida?

Obviously, it's been an issue for folks across the country.

But what has been the impact here?

You know, inflation is a terrible issue and it is a major contributor to the number of folks in our area who are hungry.

We've seen inflation, of course, in all kinds of costs.

We've seen inflation in food costs.

We've seen inflation in fuel.

We've seen enormous increases in rents.

Rents in many areas in southwest Florida have more than doubled in the last 2 or 3 years.

And so, you know, if you think about somebody who's on a limited income or a fixed income, that's a huge problem.

As far as the percentage of folks who are serving in Southwest Florida, are we seeing a big change in that?

Is is food insecurity getting any better?

Food insecurity is on the rise right now.

You know, we saw obviously an enormous increase in food insecurity during the pandemic.

And then it's subsided somewhat.

But since then, we've had a hurricane and a bout of inflation.

People say inflation is coming down, but the prices have not gone back to where they were before the ramp out of inflation.

Certainly rents have not.

And in many other cases, other costs remain stubbornly high as well.

So we're still seeing, significant increases in the number of people we're serving now is about 75% higher than it was before the pandemic.

So tell us about the people you serve.

Have the demographics changed at all over the last few years?

The demographic graphics have shifted a little bit.

I wouldn't say they've changed dramatically.

We've always served a significant amount of seniors on fixed incomes.

We have always served our single largest population being working families.

But what we're seeing is that people who are on the margin are increasingly needing to come out and get help.

So you mentioned seniors.

So what kind of help is available to seniors or people who just may not be able to physically make it to a pantry?

So we have pantries that we run, and we have a feeding network of about 175 other organizations throughout our five counties that are on the ground feeding people every day.

Many of those organizations serve seniors.

In addition to that, we have senior kit programs where we're taking food boxes for a regular monthly distribution.

We feed many thousands of seniors that way as well.

If people need help with transportation or access to food, they can call 211 in Lee County, or they can come to our website or talk to us, and we can connect them with organizations that have volunteers who are available to help bring food to people who have difficulty getting to a site where they can get help.

So we were talking earlier about children, and I was thinking about students, you know, during the school year, they can tap into free, free or reduced, you know, lunches, excuse me, free lunches, free breakfasts.

But when school is out, is there help for for students, for children.

Well, there is obviously a lot of, children are getting fed at school during the normal course of events, but on the weekend or during the holidays or over the summertime, you know, those, those, resources aren't available.

There are resources outside of us, like, summer meal programs and the like that are available to, to many parents to bring their children.

We have a variety of programs as well.

We put pantries in about 40 schools in Southwest Florida.

So mom or dad can come in when they're picking up their kid after school.

They can go into the pantry and get food and bring it home to, you know, get them through the weekend.

We have mobile pantries that operate near schools.

And we have, food boxes that we provide to a lot of other organizations, maybe a preschool or an after school program where they can provide a food box to somebody who is, coming in.

Need some help?

What do you need to continue to serve Southwest Florida?

How can people best help you?

We need all kinds of help.

Obviously, we have many generous food donors.

We love to have people do food drives or food and fun drives.

You know, clearly it costs money to do what we do.

And so we're constantly fundraising.

We're a private nonprofit organization, and the vast majority of our budget comes from, private fundraising.

And then we love our volunteers.

We have thousands of volunteers, tens of thousands of volunteer hours every year of people who help us do things that otherwise I'd have to pay a staff member to do and frankly, probably couldn't afford.

So that could be helping prepare, food for to be distributed or coming out to a distribution point and helping us distribute the food to people who need help.

And if we can.

And on this for anyone out there who may need help, maybe a little reluctant to get help because they've never needed it before.

Your message to them.

There's no shame in this.

You know, many people are embarrassed to admit that they need some help.

It's a it's, an embarrassing thing to have to say.

You know, I'm not sure how I'm going to feed my kids this weekend.

We try very hard.

And so to all the organizations in our feeding network to to be kind and compassionate and treat people who are going through a tough time.

You know, as gently as we can.

Please call 211, come to our website, find a site and get some help so that you and your children and your family don't have to struggle with being food insecure.

Thank you, Miss Little Lerma, for your time.

Thank you for what you do.

Thank you so much for having me.

A lot of us are getting in the festive spirit.

Of course, Christmas and Hanukkah are quickly approaching, but some Southwest Floridians are already celebrating their faith and traditions.

Joining me to explain the religious and cultural celebrations happening across our community is Elizabeth and use culture and connections.

Reporter.

Welcome, Elizabeth.

Thank you so much, Sandra, for having me.

It's a joy to be here today.

Yes, I am excited because you're going to teach us first about Body Day.

Yes.

So Body Day is celebrated in the Buddhist community.

It's equivalent to their Christmas.

They are celebrating when Siddartha sat under the booty tree for 49 days and reached enlightenment.

Siddartha is the founder of Buddhism.

So we found a small Buddhist community here in our backyards in Fort Myers, and they got to tell us all about the celebratory event.

Wonderful.

And then, of course, there is Christmas.

But you found some folks, even though Christmas isn't here yet, you found some folks already celebrating in a market.

Tell us about that.

Yes.

So on Monday night, over 100 people gathered to celebrate Las Posadas.

It's a holiday that dates back hundreds of years.

When Mary and Joseph traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem.

They went door to door looking for shelter and were rejected.

So for nine days, the little Catholic community gets together and they commemorate the nine months that Mary was pregnant.

For those nine days, they get together and they go door to door looking for shelter.

Really?

I mean, looking for shelter.

But they go from house to house or and, there's prayer, there is music, there's a lots of food.

And of course, there's lights because it's leading up to Christmas.

And I know, as you've been researching, all the different, celebrations happening across the community in December, you found that there are some similarities.

Tell us about that.

Yes.

So this year, Christmas actually falls on the same day as Hanukkah.

And even though Hanukkah falls for eight days, unlike Christmas, it's similar to Kwanzaa, which falls for seven days.

And there are some slight differences, though.

Kwanzaa is more of a cultural celebration.

Hanukkah is a religious celebration, but both of them celebrate the same thing.

Dignity.

Respect.

Community.

Wonderful.

And there is a celebration using light in both.

Correct?

Yes.

So each day that they light a candle.

And it started with, the Jews being taken over by foreign forces.

And when they won, they lit a candle for one night.

They didn't know that it was going to last eight nights.

So it was a wonderful surprise for them.

Similar to Kwanzaa, it happened in the 1960s when the African American community was going through the civil rights era.

The founder at the time created the holiday to give African Americans self-respect, self-love and self dignity.

Did you learn anything in this process, learning about all these great traditions and cultures and religions?

The biggest thing that I learned was there are so many diverse communities underneath the rug of Southwest Florida.

They're hidden gems all over and I had no idea they existed.

But they've been here.

They will continue to thrive here.

They've.

It was just wonderful getting to know each and every one of them.

And as we move into the new year, there's still some celebrations to come.

There is.

So the Orthodox community celebrates Christmas on January 7th.

They go by a completely different calendar.

We're going to have you back to explain that, but okay.

And, we also have Three Kings Day, which is celebrated by the Catholic community that falls in January, the first week as well.

So it doesn't just stop in December.

It's year round.

These holidays that are taking place, and we just hope to continue covering them, continue learning about them and continuing to discover more.

Oh, we love it and we thank you for joining us.

Thank you for having me.

Let the celebrations begin.

Coming up, a preview of this year's Fgcu annual holiday concert.

O before.

Santa Claus arrived in style this year as he hopped aboard the historic Sugar Express train to deliver toys to children in South Florida, flanked by Mrs. Claus and members of the United States Marines.

The man in the red suit handed out presents, took pictures and brought letters back with him to the North Pole.

The 100 year old sugar cane train made stops in Glades, Hendry, Highlands and Palm Beach counties, bringing holiday cheer along the way.

FTC use annual holiday concert.

Joyful and triumphant is a festive tradition that brings together the university's student musicians and the Southwest Florida community.

The performance will air Christmas week on WGCU, PBS, TV and WGCU FM radio.

WGCU arts reporter Tom Hall gives us a closer look.

come, let us adore him.

On December 3rd, FGCUs Bower School of Musi in the Arts Stage's annual Christmas extravaganza.

Joyful and triumphant.

At Maureen's Presbyterian Church in Naples.

It's a musical celebration that combines artistry and holiday cheer.

Fgcu Artistic Director and Director of Choirs Trent Brown provides this overview of the concert.

Joyful and triumphant has about 200 student musicians.

They come from four different choirs and the symphony orchestra song We for over a decade.

The concert has been performed at Mornings Presbyterian Church and broadcast by WGCU, bringing the magic of the season to southwest Florida audiences as soon as they hold it up.

The program is about an hour and a half long and moves pretty quickly.

Uses a lot of holiday music, some that's really traditional, some that's outside of the mainstream holiday music and some music that sort of very, very loosely attached to the holidays.

To just really get people in, in the spirit of the season and to see the great work that these student musicians do.

Choosing the music is a creative endeavor of its own.

What usually happens is 1 or 2 groups comes with a really creative idea, a piece that they have found or something that they want to showcase, something that really showcases the students.

And then from there, we build out the other pieces that can sort of support those big anchor pieces.

This is the fifth consecutive year that Fgcu performance Major Sebastian Climat has performed in the concert.

Every year we we seem to add something new.

So, every year, you know, a new choir shows up, our cantabile, our tenor and bass choir, was founded only two years ago.

So having that fourth choir joined really changed up.

The pacing, how we interweave each song into the to the show.

And then with our orchestra, you know, we do something greater and greater every year.

And I think that our glory opportunity this year with orchestra is going to be something that nobody should miss.

It's going to be incredible.

This is sophomore music education major Mia Laboy Reyez, second straight year performing in Joyful and Triumphant.

In a way, it is like a theatrical production because there is a consecutive story being told and there's different scenes that happen, like the orchestra will play by themselves and then they'll accompany the choirs, you know?

Oh, for WGCU news.

This is Tom Hall.

Joyful and triumphant premieres on WGCU, PBS TV December 23rd through the 25th and on WGC FM December 22nd and 24th.

For full details, visit wgcu.org And coming up next week on Southwest Florida in focus is hurricane season changing.

An expert from the National Hurricane Center shares what scientists learn from this past season.

Plus, horseshoe crabs have been around for 445 million years and still play a vital role in our coastal ecology.

They also provide a critical ingredient for life saving medical products.

We'll learn why a citizen science program is tracking these living fossils.

Be sure to join us for those stories and more!

Next time on.

See you!

Have a great week everyone!