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Community Corner

Two Tampa Charities in National Facebook Contest

Hood Simply Smart Milk has selected representatives of Feeding America Tampa Bay and OASIS as part of a $5,000 giveaway taking place on Facebook.

Two Tampa women representing local charities are among nine selected by Hood Simply Smart Milk and tennis legend Chris Evert in their second annual "Make a Difference, Taste a Difference" program celebrating women making a difference in their communities.

Debbi McCarthy, director of development for Feeding America Tampa Bay, and Ginger Bean, executive director of OASIS (Outreach Assisting Students in School) were among three representatives from the Florida/Georgia region featured on Simply Smart's Facebook page for the national contest. Rounding out the contest is Linda Osmundson of CASA (Community Action Stops Abuse) in St. Petersburg. The woman with the most votes on the popular social media site by Aug. 31 will win $5,000 for her charity, to be awarded in the fall.

"We are so honored and humbled that out of all the nonprofits in the Tampa Bay area that Hood reached out to us," McCarthy said. "It's such a great platform for us to put the spotlight on hunger in the Tampa Bay area so we're grateful for that."

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The money, if McCarthy is able to win it, is something that Feeding America Tampa Bay will pump right back into the area in the form of its childhood hunger programs.

"The hunger problem in Tampa Bay is very extreme," McCarthy said. "We have 700,000 people in west central Florida that are struggling with hunger, 250,000 of which are children. For every dollar we can bring in, we can put four meals in front of a child that wouldn't otherwise eat. So this money can be very beneficial."

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Last year, the contest was won by another Tampa charity, as Dottie Berger MacKinnon of Kids Charity of Tampa Bay came away with the check.

To vote, visit Simply Smart Milk's Facebook page and click on the Make a Difference tab.

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