Pat Rogers, Executive Director
I hope 2011 finds you well and with plenty of energy reserves to continue the commitment to Ending Hunger, Nourishing Hope in our community! Our team here at Feeding America Tampa Bay is dedicated to working with our partners - from our donors who support us with food, financial support or their own precious time to all of those on the front line, going the extra mile to find those people without a meal that day.
We are moving forward, implementing new programs and improving existing ones in order to provide more nutritious food and getting it to those in need, wherever they may be. Our nutritious food categories of fruits and vegetables, meat, and dairy increased by 2.7 million pounds last year. Funding allowed us to start up programs working with our partner agencies to bring these more perishable foods to their neighborhood and then directly distribute this food to the people they have determined need it most All of this is possible because of collaboration and teamwork.
In the next few months, we are stepping up the pace of these programs (and will need to find more funding!). Stubborn unemployment rates, along with the added injury of higher food prices, is placing more people at risk of becoming food insecure. This trying environment multiplies the need to increase the level of collaboration and provide solutions to help feed the staggering number of hungry children and adults. I am excited by efforts being made to come together and discuss how to bring new ideas to meet the changes in our food donations. In the most recent months, almost 50% of our food donations now require either refrigeration or freezer storage. Which means our already short window of opportunity to move food to hungry people hanging on for help is just getting tighter and tighter. We are looking for donors and partners who can help us solve these challenges. As we serve over 600 charitable agencies in our 10 counties, our ability to leverage investments in cooler/freezer capacity or partnersh ips with those who have these capacities will be a welcome helping hand to all olthose who are working to find those in need and get them nutritious food.
Everyone in our community can help if we let them know what they can do. Recent studies tell us 1 in 6 people in our community are in need offood. The only good news in this sobering reality is that leaves 5 of 6 to help out Please contact us soon to see how you can be of assistance. Thank you in advance for all your efforts!