By LINDA CHION KENNEY
A major with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said that, with her perspective as a young child growing up poor, she greatly appreciates Sheriff Chad Chronister’s push to participate in the annual Cereal for Summer food drive.
“This wasn’t happening back when I was a young ‘un down in Fort Lauderdale,” said HCSO District V. Major Colleen Handrick. “When I was growing up, I didn’t know I was poor. Cereal was something that my parents were able to give us, the six of us, that kept us going. It was one of the cheapest things we could get, and it was something that filled us up.”
And so for Handrick, the cereal drive “is something that really is meaningful to me, as we’re going to help some kids who don’t even know that they need the help.”
The Riverview team for The Mosaic Company was one of the groups that collected cereal for the Cereal for Summer food drive.
Handrick made her comments at the May 27 Central Hillsborough County Chamber of Commerce luncheon. There, at the Barn Theatre at Winthrop, donations were collected for the 10th annual Cereal for Summer food drive, presented by Feeding Tampa Bay and 10 Tampa Bay, and supported by scores of Tampa Bay businesses, groups, organizations and residents.
According to Feeding Tampa Bay officials, the food bank connects and convenes resources to nourish long-term stability for nearly 1 million people in need. It’s estimated that one in four children face hunger every day across Tampa Bay, and the need deepens during the summer months. That’s when children no longer get the low-cost or free lunches and breakfasts provided at their schools during the academic year, through the federally funded National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program.
As noted in the food bank report, “Summer is a time where daily school meals stop and hunger begins.” It further notes that for every $1 donated, Feeding Tampa Bay is able “to provide five meals to nourish the minds of children.”
At the Cereal for Summer collection day in Tampa on May 30, at the Publix Super Market at Britton Plaza, roughly 7,000 cereal boxes rolled in on HCSO trucks, preceded by a motorcade of motorcyclist deputies.
Aside from the overriding imperative to feed hungry children, the drive “will ensure that the crime rate continues to go down in our community,” said HCSO Chief Deputy Anthony Collins, in a 10 Tampa Bay video posted to YouTube. “In Hillsborough County right now, we’re currently sitting at a 10 percent decrease in crime, and research shows that for every 1 percent of food insecurity, that is a potential 12 percent increase in violent crime.”
Collins added that in Hillsborough County, “you continue to see the crime [rate] go down,” and in part that’s because “of our community, our citizens, who contribute to events like this and make it such a success.”
Count among them the many efforts highlighted in social media posts.
Kelly Education, for example, which supplies substitute teachers for Hillsborough County schools, held its collection to “help feed students during summer break.” Boxes were collected at Kelly’s administrative offices in Tampa, at 5550 W. Idelwild Ave., Suite 101.
Florida State Fairgrounds celebrated its crew “for showing up big for the summer drive.” In a post featuring “Sunny” the mascot, it’s noted that cereal donations help to “ensure kids in our community start their day with a full bowl and a bright smile.”
Courtesy Photos
Sunny, shown here in a Florida State Fairgrounds Facebook post, is the mascot for its crew’s involvement in the Cereal for Summer food drive.
And in its June 5 post, The Mosaic Company applauds its Riverview team, for “proudly [joining] HCSO and Feeding Tampa Bay” in its drive to “contribute to the more than 7,000 boxes of cereal collected to support children facing hunger in our community.”
For more on ways to fight hunger, and to get aid for food insecurity, visit www.feedingtampabay.org or call 813-812-8905.
For information about the federally funded Summer BreakSpot program for Florida students, which for Hillsborough County kids provides free access to meals, lunch and/or snacks at 166 locations, visit www.SummerBreakSpot.org or call 211 or 850-617-7170.
Moreover, the Emergency Care Help Organization, with food banks in Riverview and Brandon, is a long-established nonprofit that accepts donations and feeds the hungry. Visit www.echofl.org or call 813-540-9880.