Agri Leader

Tampa charity does amazing work feeding children in state, nation

TBO.com
Published: September 5, 2012

A group out of Tampa wanting to feed hungry people is on to something big. The faith-based organization has been doing good work worldwide, but then saw a need right here in Florida and across the nation and is meeting it as much as possible. Now, the group is expanding to other states.

Feeding Children Everywhere volunteers are packing 3 million meals to be distributed across the country, according to an Associated Press story by Christie Storm from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

In Florida, the organization started "Love Local" after watching a "60 Minutes" segment about hungry children right here in central Florida. One hundred thousand of those meals were distributed to the Pulaski County Special School District, where a large number of students are on the free or reduced lunch program.

The meals are simple. A combination of lentils, rice, dehydrated vegetables and sea salt are handed out and all that's needed is hot water. The meal provides proteins, carbohydrates, amino acids, vitamins and minerals to kids who often eat little when not in school.

Feeding Children Everywhere began as a food outreach to Africa, Southeast Asia and other parts of the world, according to the Associated Press story. Now they prepare food for children across the country and in places such as Little Rock, Ark.

It requires 12,000 volunteers in the Tampa area to prepare these nutritious meals. Shipping the meals costs a lot of money, so funds are raised to handle the expense.

This program makes so much sense. It's something that could be done on an even larger scale with some help. There's no reason why any child — or any adult, for the matter — should ever be hungry in a country like ours. This program makes sure that at least some of these people are getting fed.