HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — After eight years of serving the community, Feeding Tampa Bay is closing its Trinity Cafe at the Busch Boulevard location.
“The Trinity location on Busch for a long time was an important and integral part of our service profile. But over time, the number of people using that service has continued to decline,” said Thomas Mantz, president and CEO of Feeding Tampa Bay.
At one point, the Busch Boulevard location was serving 350 people; that number has gone down to 200.
Mantz said that doesn’t mean the need is any less; rather, there are other resources in the area that people are using, too.
“Which is another reason why we felt comfortable making the decision, is we’re not pulling resources from folks that are already using other opportunities, which is terrific,” said Mantz.
The non-profit will redistribute any available resources to its other facilities, including two other Trinity Cafes in different areas.
“I think for an organization like Feeding Tampa Bay, there are a wide variety of needs across the 10 counties we serve. Part of our job is to make sure we’re putting resources where they are most needed and most critical,” said Mantz.
The final dine-in service for a hot lunch at Trinity Cafe on Busch Boulevard is Friday, Sept. 6.
The drive-thru service for to-go meals will continue until Sept. 20.
Then, the Busch Boulevard location will officially shut its doors.
“We understand change is difficult to anyone who comes into our world who uses our services. But as always, when we make a decision like this we want to make sure people have a soft landing spot or opportunity to provide or get provided the services they need elsewhere,” said Mantz.
Feeding Tampa Bay has been making this transition over the past several weeks and started telling people about it in early August to give them time to adjust.
The group is working with community partners to fill the gap.
Metropolitan Ministries has meal sites nearby.
“There are a wide variety of partners in and around the spots that are doing great work already and they’ll be the ones that take up some of our current neighbors,” said Mantz.
For a list of all the other resources nearby, visit the Feeding Tampa Bay website.
