Help Florida Patch Collect a Ton of Food for Needy Families

Gulfport Patch has partnered with some local organizations for the Give-A-Ton Food Drive.

Our goal is to collect a ton of food for the nonprofit, Feeding America Tampa Bay, and help nourish local children and their families this summer, when school is out and free and reduced lunch programs are not available.

Gulfport Patch, along with 18 other Patch Florida sites, is working to collect nonperishable food items by May 31. Feeding America Tampa Bay will distribute the food through its partner agencies.

We've made it easy for you to help. Just drop off your canned food items at one of these locaitons. While you're there, check out some of the wonderful products and services these organizations offer:

• The Perfect Ten
• Kozy Kazual Wears
• Habana Cafe
• House of Renee Originals
• Gulfport City Hall

How Your Donation Helps

1. To get involved in the Give-A-Ton Food Drive, just drop off nonperishable food items at one of our partner businesses.
2. You can also make a financial contribution to the drive directly on Feeding America Tampa Bay’s website. Just go to the donation page and look for the Give-A-Ton Food Drive option.

Feeding America Tampa Bay is a regional food bank that supplies more than 700 agencies throughout West Central Florida with the food their clients need to survive.

According to Debbi McCarthy of Feeding America Tampa Bay, the agency serves a poverty population of some 700,000 people.

“Florida is ranked fourth in the nation for family hunger in households containing at least one child,” McCarthy said. “In the past 12 months, the food bank supplied more than 2 million pounds of food to its 10-county service area – enough to provide more than a million and a half meals every month to those who would otherwise go hungry.”

With summer just around the corner, the need for support is growing even stronger, McCarthy said.

“Summer is a particularly difficult time for food insecure children, who have no access to the federally funded school meals,” McCarthy said. “Heartbreakingly, many children face a long, hot, hungry summer.”

Thank you in advance for your help! Together we can make a real difference for those who face hunger every day.