Kelly Hayes
Florida House Rep. Jackie Toledo is partnering with Farm Share, a statewide food nonprofit, to host a food giveaway in Tampa on Tuesday.
Food will be provided at a drive thru beginning at 10 a.m. and continue until 1 p.m., or until supplies run out, at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church on Manhattan Avenue.
Farm Share will be providing hundreds of pounds of produce, meats, milk, canned proteins and canned goods at the giveaway. The distribution will be socially distant and follow COVID-19 safety guidelines with those picking up able to stay in their car at the drive thru. Residents do not need documentation to receive goods.
Farm Share is a non-profit organization that has been distributing food daily throughout Florida for 29 years. The organization partners with local farmers to prevent food waste and feed the hungry.
Since the start of the pandemic, Farm Share has delivered 97 million pounds of food to Floridians.
As the holidays approach, individuals across the U.S. are struggling with hunger at unprecedented levels amidst the coronavirus pandemic. In Florida, more than 2.7 million people, 1 in 8, are struggling with hunger.
In Tampa Bay, food pantries have seen the need for help double and in some cases soar by up to 400 times the typical demand since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report from the Tampa Bay Times.
