Bigger Food Bank Will Allow Feeding Tampa Bay To Provide 5 Times More Services To Hungry

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL — With the help of a $5 million pledge from Hillsborough County's share of American Rescue Plan funding, Feeding Tampa Bay will expand its services for those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic by building a new community center, food bank and distribution warehouse.

The Hillsborough County Commission unanimously approved the appropriation to the nonprofit, part of the national Feeding America network that helps food-insecure families around the country, to allow it to serve the increasing number of food-insecure families in the 10 Tampa Bay counties it serves.

Feeding Tampa Bay plans to build a 215,000-square-foot food bank and community outreach center on 18 acres of a 62.5-acre industrial site at 4000 Causeway Blvd.

The project will include a 140,000-square-foot food storage and distribution warehouse, a grocery store and restaurant, volunteer space, a community room and kitchen and space for Feeding Tampa Bay's job-training programs.

Feeding Tampa Bay CEO and President Thomas Mantz said the expansion will allow the organization to expand its food distribution and job-training services fivefold.

Mantz said the facility is still in the planning stage, but hopes to have a construction timeline by this summer.

Feeding Tampa Bay currently operates out of two warehouses totaling 105,000 square feet.

It has 60 trucks that pick up food from 538 grocery stores and distribution centers. This food is distributed to needy families at 10 megapantries each week, 40 to 150 mobile pantries each month and to 478 individual food pantries operated by churches, schools and nonprofits throughout the area.

Additionally, Feeding Tampa Bay operates three cafes — two in Tampa and one in Lealman — and provides hot meals to elderly and homebound,. In all the nonprofit serves 10,000 hot meals a week.

The nonprofit also helps the homeless as well as the recently unemployed find jobs through its job-training programs in commercial driver's licenses, warehouse logistics and culinary arts.

Last year, Feeding Tampa Bay served more than 66 million meals. Each week through its megapantries, it serves 9,438 households and provide 340,515 meals.

Mantz said the pandemic only magnified the existing food-insecurity problem in Tampa Bay.

"Hunger in Tampa Bay happens every day to everyday people – hardworking individuals and families who are one job loss or medical crisis away from food insecurity," he said. "Even before COVID-19, there were more than 650,000 families and individuals in Tampa Bay who did not have basic access to food."

But with the onset of the pandemic, the need for food surged 400 percent in the communities it serves, said Mantz, adding that, prior to the pandemic, 68 percent of those seeking Feeding Tampa Bay's help had never been in a food line before.

There are now more than a million people in the 10-country region who are food-insecure, he said. This includes one out of four children. And this year Feeding Tampa Bay expects to serve 85 million meals.

Mantz said the $5 million from the county will give the nonprofit's plan to build the new $50 million facilities "a significant boost."

County Commissioner Harry Cohen said he couldn't think of a more worthy recipient for the funds.

“It’s really, I think, the most wonderful investment we could make for the community,” Cohen said. “No one should ever be without food or go hungry.”

“We’re proud to work alongside you to make sure that our community is well taken care of and we look forward to much more of that in the future,” Mantz told commissioners. “Our objective both pre- and post-pandemic is to bring more resources to the community."

Pinellas Empowerment Center Opens

To accommodate the 33,689,204 people in Pinellas County who are going without meals, on Nov. 1, Feeding Tampa Bay opened the Feeding Pinellas County Empowerment Center at Northwest Church, 6330 54th Ave. N., in the Lealman community. It includes a food pantry open every Tuesday and Thursday and a café serving hot meals Monday through Friday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

BayCare Health Opens Education Center

And just last week, Feeding Tampa Bay dedicated its dedicated BayCare Health Education Center inside its warehouse at 4702 Transport Drive in Tampa.

The center will serve as a resource to help those seeking assistance from Feeding Tampa Bay live healthier lives.

The center offers health education materials, a Higi Smart Health Station that provides self-monitoring tests and a private area for personal consultations. BayCare also will offer health and wellness events at the center.

“People can go into what we call a Higi station. They can get their blood pressure taken, heart rate, weight,” said Tommy Inzina, BayCare’s CEO. “We’re also going to schedule classes and other screenings. We’re going to be doing diabetes screenings, heart screenings, and some weight loss education for people.”

"We are thrilled to have BayCare’s partnership and presence here in the food bank,” said Mantz, President and CEO of Feeding Tampa Bay. “This new facility is an investment in our community’s long-term health, starting with nutrition, which is essential for overall wellness. We all know food equals health and this effort is a huge step forward for our community."

“Any health care professional will tell you that food is the first medicine," Inzina said. “Without good nutrition, maintaining one’s health is significantly harder, and no medical intervention can compensate for what we need first: good and dependable access to food.”

“The folks that we typically serve don’t always have a pathway to good medical care. We’re creating a pathway for them,” said Mantz. “Folks can come in to our Publix community market and shop for the groceries they need. Then they can walk next door and find a health services partner that can help them navigate different challenges or issues or concerns they’re having with their health.

“Food is a symptom. We know when someone needs food, there are other things that are happening inside their house that we can help with, and what we do is provide the pathway between coming into a meal for us and walking next door to a clinic,” said Mantz.

Where To Get Groceries, Hot Meals

Those seeking help can get groceries each week at the following locations:

• Monday at Lakes Church in Polk County and the Yuengling Center at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
• Tuesday at DeSoto Mall in Manatee County and Radiant Church in Hillsborough County.
• Wednesday at Hillsborough Community College in Southshore.
• Thursday at Burks Memorial Park in Pasco County and the Brandon campus of Hillsborough Community College.
• Saturday at the Dale Mabry campus of HCC and Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

The Trinity Cafes serve hot meals at:

• 2801 N. Nebraska Ave., Tampa, Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.
• 2202 E. Busch Blvd., Tampa, Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and Saturday from 9 to 10 a.m.
• 6330 54th Ave. N., St. Petersburg, Monday through Friday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Patch has partnered 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, estimated that by the end of 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.