TAMPA, Fla. — As many families prepared for Super Bowl Sunday, nearly 180 members of the Berkeley Prep community helped the U.S. Hunger Project pack meals for 37,000 local families in need.
“We are a very giving community,” said the school’s community engagement director Buck Johnson
The school teamed up with the Hunger Project, 68 Hours, and Hillsborough Education Foundation. This is the school’s twelfth year packing meals.
“It truly speaks to how amazing this community is,” said Briana Blanchard with the U.S. Hunger project. “They are passionate about serving the community whether it’s folks they know or folks they don’t know.”
Participating in the annual event has become a family tradition for many at Berkeley, including Jennifer Miller and her family. Her daughters are students, and volunteering is something they do multiple times a year.
“When we think about hardships in the world, we tend to think about places that are further away, but just right here in this very community, there are families struggling to put food on the table,” Jennifer Miller said. “It’s nice to do something like this really close to home and impactful.”
Berkeley runs a local food pantry every other week. Johnson said that’s how they know just how “great” the need is in the community.
“Just yesterday, we served 51 families,” he said. “We are aware of the hunger and the food insecurity in Hillsborough County.”
The U.S. Hunger project works with several local organizations on similar events. They also help people in need across the country. They will be in Hawaii next week, packing boxes for families there.
