As our restaurant community temporarily restricts onsite patronage to ensure public safety, there may be food resources available for donation.
The City of Tampa wants to ensure that local restaurants can donate unused food back to our community, helping those who are struggling during this crisis. There is a growing need for food assistance from our neighbors throughout the City, and by connecting local restaurants with nonprofits, we can help meet the needs of our community.
To facilitate this, the City of Tampa has arranged with Feeding Tampa Bay and Metropolitan Ministries to collect and redistribute food donations.
“In Tampa, we are a community that takes care of each other—and we need to do that now more than ever,” says Mayor Jane Castor. “This is a challenging time for both our residents and our businesses, but by coming together, thinking of our neighbors, and donating what we can, we can minimize hunger in our community and ensure basic needs are being met. I want to thank all of our local restaurants who are giving back. This is what community is all about.”
The process is as simple as contacting the names below to get the process started. Those wishing to donate unused food can contact each of these organizations as follows:
Feeding Tampa Bay: Pete Lenhardt plenhardt@feedingtampabay.org. phone: 727-741-3193
Metropolitan Ministries: Paula Dang Paula.Dang@metromin.org phone: 813-209-1226
For more information on social services, please visit the City of Tampa’s COVID-19 Social Services Page.