Community Corner
Volunteers Work Through Heat in Tampa Heights to Fight Hunger
Verizon union members gathered to package and distribute donated food.
Volunteers came together at the in Tampa Heights today to distribute food to the hungry. More than 200 families lined up outside the church beginning at 9 a.m. to receive boxes of food.
“Everyone left with a huge box of food,” said Pat Rogers, executive director of Feeding America Tampa Bay, the nonprofit food bank that organized the event. Rogers said that each box of donated food would feed a family for about four days.
The campaign, Kindness 2011, is a joint project of Verizon and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 824, which represents 3,900 local Verizon employees. For these union members, solidarity extends to the working poor and the jobless that need help.
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“This is our Year of Kindness,” said Michelle Agne, of IBEW. She said that for the past three months, workers had been accepting donations at Verizon offices, and even collecting canned goods from customers when installing cable and internet services.
Julie Smith, Verizon's vice-president of external affairs, said that fighting hunger is a major focus of Verizon's charitable work. The company's foundation also presented Feeding America with a $5,000 donation.
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“Hunger is a huge issue, especially in this economy,” said Smith. “For us to help families stay healthy is a priority for Verizon.”
Volunteers have collected more than 14,000 pounds of non-perishable food to be distributed to needy families. Feeding America gathers donations from a 10-county area, and assists local organizations in distributing the food to those in need.
“We're the food suppliers to people on the front line,” said Rogers.
Members of the Zion Lutheran congregation also joined in the effort, led by Pastor Charles Trower and churchgoer Tracy Moore.
“The congregation always comes out to support the church and the community,” said Moore.
One volunteer worked so long in the 95 degree heat that he suffered heat stroke and was treated briefly by paramedics.
“You see,” said Moore, “they volunteer so hard they get heat exhaustion.”
Volunteers are encouraged to rest, drink water, and show up for the next food distribution day at Zion Lutheran, Saturday, July 30, starting at 9 a.m.