TAMPA, Fla. — One and four children in Tampa Bay don’t necessarily know where their next meal is coming from according to Feeding Tampa Bay.
To fight back against child hunger, 10 Tampa Bay has partnered with the food distribution outreach for the last six years on a project called Cereal For Summer.
Through generous donations from the community, millions of meals have been served to hungry kids in our community.
But cereal feels incomplete without milk.
“We’ve seen the COVID impact, especially on what it’s done to families," said T.G. Lee general Manager Meg Callahan Friday afternoon. "For us to be able to just even be a small piece, to give back some nutrition to the children, it’s priceless.”
T.G. Lee donated 2,500 gallons of milk to Feeding Tampa Bay on Friday. The donation, worth about $10,000, comes just in time for summer.
“It’s always critical to make sure folks have the food they need," said Feeding Tampa Bay President and CEO Thomas Mantz. “I would describe it as historic need."
Mantz has seen a rise in first-time families showing up to take advantage of Feeding Tampa Bay meals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Donations like the one from T.G. Lee will help immensely.
"A bowl of cereal and some good, tasty cold milk is something every kid needs to start the day with and Cereal For Summer allows us to make that happen," said Mantz. "This program that you all hope to start has been a terrific impact on our community. You don’t know how many kids are in better shape today for what you’ve done and when we have the understanding that we want to help a neighbor it always goes really well."
Feeding Tampa Bay expects Cereal For Summer to collect enough cereal to provide over one million meals this year. You can donate until May 14 at any Sonny’s BBQ location around Tampa Bay.
On Saturday, if you're in need, you can pick up milk and cereal from 8 a.m. to noon at the Hillsborough Community College campus in Tampa or Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.
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