Feeding Hungry Kids

At the end of 2009 it was known that 25% of all children in Hillsborough County were receiving food stamps, with 21% of Pinellas children in the same program. Nationally the average is only 11.5%.

In the last two years the number of children on Food stamps in Hillsborough County has increased by 70%.

"This is yet another aspect of lifestyle in Tampa Bay that makes us an attractive worthy place to live. Cold and hungry people up north will not know they could be warm and hungry in Sunny Florida if we do not have the marketing budget to reach them.” said Ken Noggin of the Greater Tampa Bay Chamber Partnership.

Diane Blowhard of the Tampa Tourism Cabal points out that hunger makes people creative.

            “We are developing a creative class of workers right here in Tampa Bay. Just look at all the creative Medicare claims down in Miami; we need to keep pace with them by developing our hungry creatives”.

Ken Harper echoed these statements adding that the area’s growing biotech cluster (estimated at two companies currently) would benefit from a multitude of hungry desperate children to use for drug testing.

“Keeping the next generation hungry and dependant will, in the long run, be good for business”.

Ken Harper, a board member of the Greater Tampa Bay Chamber Partnership, applauds the hard working staff and volunteers working so hard to provide the meager $227 a month worth to feed hungry families.

“When I think of the dedication of the people processing hundreds of thousands of requests for food every day across this sunny economic paradise we call Florida…I could cry I am so proud of them. They are the finest heroes, truly doing Gods work. We should give them raises.”

Jen Hallow, Marketing Manager for the Greater Tampa Bay Chamber Partnership asserts we need funding from State, Federal and local sources to market the widely successful food stamp program to the hungry and destitute locally as well in the Midwestern states and New York.

“I am concerned that without aggressive funding for marketing food stamps thousands of people, children will be overlooked"