Winn-Dixie customers throughout Tampa Bay raised $11,580 for Feeding America Tampa Bay this summer.
But, Plant City’s location off Alexander Street was among the top-fundraising stores with its total, $1,019.
The initiative was part of Winn-Dixie’s Summer Backpack Hunger Relief community donation program that ran from July 16 to Aug. 19. Proceeds were presented to Feeding America in a check presentation on Sept. 17 at the West Swann Avenue location in South Tampa. Plant City store manager Henry Falcon did not attend, but Winn-Dixie was proud of the contribution his store made, nevertheless.
“We are honored to support wonderful organizations like Feeding America Tampa Bay that are committed to providing hunger relief in our communities,” spokeswoman Meredith Holland said.
One in four children live in food-insecure households in the U.S. In Florida, more than 20% of children are experiencing food insecurity and more than 200,000 children in the ten counties served by Feeding America Tampa Bay live in poverty.
In Plant City, Feeding America benefits the community by sending a truck out to the United Food Bank of Plant City one Tuesday a month.
“United Food Bank of Plant City has been a valued partner of Feeding America Tampa Bay for many years,” Feeding America Executive Director Thomas Mantz said. “We do drop food at the site one time per week currently. But, this does change based upon a variety of factors — if we have extra loads of food — or if there is a particular crisis in the area. Lately, we have been working together to relieve the burden on migrant workers in the area.”
Last year, Feeding America supplied almost 140,000 pounds of food through its relationship with United Food Bank of Plant City.