TAMPA, Fla. — Over the last few years, Feeding Tampa Bay has opened several food pantries in six Tampa Bay area counties. And number 77 opened this week at DeSoto Elementary School in Tampa.
Most students at the school go home not knowing where their next meal will come from. Claire Fournier drives past the school every day on her way to work and was recently told that the area was one of the most impoverished areas in Tampa.
“So now, all of a sudden, driving past this school took on a whole new meaning which led me to stop and talk to the principal and ask what you need,” explained Fournier.
That encounter with Fournier, for principal Emily Tirelli was an 8-year-old prayer finally answered.
“That was actually a dream that started before I got here,” said Tirelli. “The staff had been working and trying to find a way to provide a pantry for our families.”
Fournier's employer, Workscapes, planted the seed money to start the pantry, along with a group of WISH volunteers at Feeding Tampa Bay.
Now a converted office inside the DeSoto Elementary library serves as Feeding Tampa Bay’s newest school pantry.
“Many of the families are living below the poverty line, and the need has gotten greater over the last few years,” explained Tirelli. “We know that when kids come to school, and they're hungry or the stress that has been caused by that food insecurity. They really are not ready to learn because that's a basic need that needs to be filled first before we can get into the reading and the writing and the math.”
“I just believe no family or no child should be hungry. How can we expect our children to perform in school if they are hungry,” said Fournier.
The soft opening of the pantry this week brought in dozens of school families. The hope is that the whole community will have access to this newest food resource within the next few weeks.
“The call is to business leaders. Find a need near your own business. Adopt a school. Meet the principal. Partner with organizations like Feeding Tampa Bay, and we all can make a difference if everybody just did one school,” explained Fournier.
Claire's employer also provided mentors for the kids at DeSoto Elementary and a brand-new teacher's lounge.
