Feeding Tampa Bay has expanded its Hunger-Free Summer Mobile Pantry Program to 114 thanks to a $50,000 donation from the foundation of BJ's Wholesale Club.
The donation will help the food bank to reach more children and expand its efforts to mitigate childhood hunger.
"Feeding Tampa Bay tries to reach more families and children each year through our mobile pantry program," Feeding Tampa Bay executive director Thomas Mantz said in a release. "During the summer, child hunger spikes as students no longer receive their daily meals at school. With BJ's generous support, we will be able to increase the number of healthy meals and snacks we distribute and increase our impact on child hunger this summer."
The BJs Charitable Foundation is committed to Tampa because it has two locations in Hillsborough: W Waters Avenue and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.
From mobile and school pantries to congregate meal sites in public areas like summer camps, the Feeding America network operates different program models to increase the number of meals provided to children over the summer because the number of children receiving free or reduced-price meals drops from 22 million to 4 million.
Here, Feeding Tampa Bay serves as the largest food rescue and distribution organization in the community, providing for the food-insecure population of more than 700,000 people in a 10-county area.
Feeding Tampa Bay recovers surplus food donations from local growers, manufacturers, supermarkets, and organized community food drives and distributes it to those in need through a partnership network of more than 500 faith-based and other incorporated nonprofit hunger relief organizations.