Tampa Bay Bucs, Mosaic Open 1st Food Pantry At Tampa School

TAMPA, FL — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and The Mosiac Co. are putting their money where children's hungry mouths are.

In an effort to fight insecurity in Tampa Bay, they joined forces this month to open their first food pantry at Broward Elementary School in Tampa.

The pantry will serve about 300 families in the area, helping children and their families get access to a variety of foods, including perishable and nonperishable items at the Title I School where more than 90 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

Ben Pratt, Mosaic senior vice president of government and public affairs, said this is the first of more to come in what the two organization are calling Tackling Hunger Fueled by Mosaic.

"The Buccaneers and Mosaic have been talking for a long time about some we can engage with the community and work together to promote things that are important to both sides," Pratt said. "We plan to open one food pantry each year for five years that will be sustained long-term with the help of Feeding Tampa Bay."

The Buccaneers and Mosaic will partner with Feeding Tampa Bay, part of the Feeding America network, to open and manage the pantries.

According to Feeding Tampa Bay, one in four children in Tampa Bay are food insecure.

"Mosaic's mission to help the world grow the food it needs is something we live by every day – and that includes tackling food insecurity in the communities where we operate and our employees live," Pratt said. "We know that to reach their full potential, children need to be well-nourished, so we're proud to join forces with the Buccaneers to ensure food security in Tampa Bay. This is a long-term commitment, and we're excited to open this first pantry, which will have a significant impact on children and families in Seminole Heights."

To celebrate the pantry's opening this month, Buccaneers guard Ali Marpet delivered a message to the students encouraging their families to use the school's pantry for healthy foods that they can take home.

"This is truly a community-minded partnership, and we believe that strengthening this region starts with our youth," said Buccaneers Chief Operating Officer Brian Ford. "Through this collaboration with our partners at Mosaic, we are committed to providing Feeding Tampa Bay with the resources and support for the children most in need. Launching this program at Broward Elementary will uplift the students and have an immediate and long-lasting impact on food security for families in the area."

No one was more excited to help open the food pantry than Whitney Jean-Pierre, the community resource coordinator at Broward Elementary for the past eight years.

"I've really been waiting for something like this to happen," she said. "I'm really excited for our families. I think this is going to benefit them tremendously."

Thomas Mantz, Feeding Tampa Bay president and CEO, shared her enthusiasm.

"For an organization like ours to bring in both the Bucs and Mosaic, that's an incredible lift and a whole lot of power," Mantz said. "Both brands are recognizable and when they stand up and say hunger in a child's life isn't OK, I think the community listens. This is a platform we would never have at Feeding Tampa Bay.

As part of the agreement, both the Bucs and Mosaic will donate $10 each per tackle during the team's 2021 regular season to Feeding Tampa Bay.

The Bucs have been longtime supporters of Feeding Tampa Bay, which served more than 95 million meals last year.

In 2020 the Glazer family, owners of the Buccaneers franchise, donated five million meals to Feeding Tampa Bay toward pandemic relief.

"When we think about hungry children, we need organizations that can really step into a problem like childhood hunger in a meaningful and significant way," Mantz said. "The Buccaneers are a terrific organization that has done much to make sure that our community is thriving. Partnering with Mosaic, whose primary focus is to make sure we have the food we need around the world, I don't think you could find two better resources to help us lift the issue of childhood hunger in our community."

Mosaic, too, has been a longtime Feeding Tampa Bay supporter.

Since 2010, Mosaic has donated more than $800,000 toward hunger relief in Tampa Bay through the partnership, including weekend backpacks for children, mobile food pantry expansion, warehouse improvements, purchasing much-needed equipment including vehicles, among other capital expenses.

Patch has teamed with Feeding America to help raise awareness on behalf of the millions of Americans facing hunger. Feeding America, which supports 200 food banks across the country, estimates that in 2020, more than 50 million Americans will not have enough nutritious food to eat due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. This is a Patch social good project; Feeding America receives 100 percent of donations. Find out how you can donate in your community or find a food pantry near you.