TAMPA, Fla. — Nearly half of working households across the Tampa Bay area struggle to make ends meet, and the need for food assistance continues to grow — even as Feeding Tampa Bay delivered 100 million meals last year alone.
Research from the Tampa Bay Partnership shows 46% of working households across Tampa Bay still struggle financially. Since Feeding Tampa Bay was founded in 1982, the organization has distributed 1 billion meals.
Thomas Mantz, president and CEO of Feeding Tampa Bay, told Tampa Bay 28 reporter Michael Paluska that the people seeking help are not who many might expect.
"If you think about who comes to see Feeding Tampa Bay, most all of them work. All of them are taxpayers. They're largely responsible. They're committed to their lives and their obligations. They don't have the resources," Mantz said.
"We would say that they are the backbone of our community. They're folks that are doing an honest day's labor, hoping for an honest day's wage. The challenge is the honest day's wage doesn't pay enough anymore," Mantz said.
"What numbers scare you the most?" Paluska asked.
"The concern that I have, the greater concern I have for the long-term future of our communities is what happens when that imbalance continues to grow," Mantz said.
Bemetra Simmons, president and CEO of the Tampa Bay Partnership — a coalition focused on using hard data to strengthen the region — said the affordability crisis reaches far beyond low-income communities.
"This affordability issue is not just for people from, you know, lower-income, economically disadvantaged communities. We're seeing this affordability issue creep and affect all different types of families, first responders, early early education leaders, school teachers, firefighters — you name it," Simmons said.
“There's so much doom and gloom,” Paluska said about the economy. “How optimistic are you that leaders in the corporate world and the nonprofit world will come together and really get solutions to fix these problems?”
"Well, first of all, I don't accept the premise that it's doom and gloom. I actually think that knowing where we are is a good thing. It's like watching game film, right? You don't watch game film to see what you did right in a basketball game or sporting event. You watch it to see what you could tweak, and this is an opportunity for us to tweak and get better," Simmons said.
Volunteer Pat Hutson said she sees the human faces behind the affordability crisis firsthand.
"Well, one of my seniors said to me that she was so grateful for the food, but also grateful that they helped her find a place to live because she'd been living in her car," Hutson said.
"What was your reaction when you learned that she was actually living in her car?" Paluska asked.
"It made me very sad that in the United States, we have to have that situation. You know, she's a woman who's worked all her life, but to get an apartment, she would have had to have first month's rent and last month's deposit. It's a lot of money," Hutson said.
For families like Linda Dye's, a back-to-school event hosted by Feeding Tampa Bay made a significant difference. Dye attended with her 7-year-old daughter, Delilah.
"I'm very blessed to have two beautiful, wonderful children," Dye said.
When asked what she was picking up for her children at the event, Dye said the help was enormous.
"I'm getting them backpacks and some activity stuff they got here," Dye said, adding that the assistance helped "tremendously."
Volunteers are also stepping up to meet the growing need. Helen Furr brought her daughter Hannalea to volunteer at Feeding Tampa Bay for the first time.
"I am proud of her. She needs to know how the world works," Furr said.
Furr said the experience was both nerve-wracking and motivating.
"I was kind of nervous, but also I feel like so many other people around here are doing the same thing, and they all — they're all doing it for the same cause," Furr said.
Tampa Bay 28 and Achieva Credit Union have partnered with Feeding Tampa Bay for the Pack the Pantries food drive, helping stock local school pantries for families in need. Donations and volunteer sign-ups are now being accepted.
For more information, click here.
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