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Here's Where To Donate Food, And Get Help, In Tampa Bay This Holiday Season

Food banks across the greater Tampa Bay region are accepting donations this holiday season.
Delaney Brown / WUSF Public Media
Food banks across the greater Tampa Bay region are accepting donations this holiday season.

Food banks across the greater Tampa Bay region continue calling for donations for the holiday season and beyond.

With the holiday season here, food banks across the greater Tampa Bay region have started holiday food drives along with regular drives.

This year has placed added strain on food pantries due to the coronavirus pandemic as many pantries have been collecting and distributing food more regularly due to food insecurity.

The holiday season is a time of increased demand for the services of food banks and other charitable organizations and many are calling for donations of non-perishables.

Metropolitan Ministries has asked for food donations, stating that it is short on food donations for the upcoming season.

It is based in downtown Tampa, with other locations across the area, and serves 75,000 meals each month in Tampa Bay and at partner sites around Hillsborough, Pasco, Polk, and Pinellas counties.

RELATED: Free Food For Children Over Holiday Break, As Schools Take On Food Insecurity Due To Coronavirus

During Thanksgiving and Christmas, Metropolitan Ministries serves more than 22,000 families in need with holiday meals.

The Salvation Army will be distributing meals through a grab-and-go boxes, in accordance to social distancing protocols, at various locations across Tampa Bay.

Feeding Tampa Bay is currently distributing two million meals a week, which is double that of what they were doing at this time last year. It also has locations across the greater Tampa Bay region where folks can accept donations, as well as 10 mega pantries and 150 mobile food pantries.

Shannon Hannon-Oliviero, the Feeding Tampa Bay's spokeswoman, said the organization has seen a consistent increased need for shelf-stable items and warm meals throughout the pandemic.

"We consistently say hunger doesn't recognize a holiday. So we don't see a spike in need. What we do see is an overwhelming rise in compassion; those that want to help, our volunteerism, people want to donate, people want to take care of those in need during the holiday season."

Here are food banks across Tampa Bay that are accepting donations (click the links for more details):

Tampa:

Sarasota:

St. Petersburg / Clearwater:

Are you an organization offering help, or do you know of any places providing assistance? Let us know by emailing news@wusf.org

I took my first photography class when I was 11. My stepmom begged a local group to let me into the adults-only class, and armed with a 35 mm disposable camera, I started my journey toward multimedia journalism.
Ayesha Faisal is the WUSF Social Media Intern for the fall of 2020.
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