By Kathy L. Collins
During the 2013-2014 hockey season, the Emergency Care Help Organization (ECHO) of Brandon, along with Feeding America Tampa Bay and other food banks, will benefit from Goals For Food, an initiative between The Mosaic Company and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Each time the Lightning score a goal during a home game, Mosaic will donate $500 and $5,000 for every hat trick scored.
With one in four suffering from food insecurity (defined as not knowing from where one’s next meal will come), this initiative will provide essential support to food banks such as ECHO. “This new partnership with Mosaic directly aligns with one of our most important business goals: to collaborate with other highly community-minded businesses that can make a difference for the people of Tampa Bay and West Central Florida,” said Jeff Vinik, chairman of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Under Vinik’s ownership, the Tampa Bay Lightning is committed to helping the community through “Lightning Community Heroes” and C.H.A.R.G.E. (Contributing Hours Across Our Region through our Generous Employees).
“As Mosaic works to help grow the food the world needs, valuable partnerships such as Goals for Food with the Lightning ensure that essential food reaches the tables of those in need,” said Karen Swager, Mosaic Vice President, Phosphate Mining Operations. Mosaic is the world’s largest combined producer and marketer of concentrated phosphate and potash, two essential crop nutrients. Stacey Efaw, Executive Director of ECHO said, “We are truly grateful to be a part of Goals For Food. Mosaic has been a great community partner. Without the support of partners like Mosaic, we would not be able to serve over 16,000 area residents annually.”
Efaw added, “ECHO provides residents in need with seven days worth of food. Goals For Food will allow us to continue to provide healthy and nutritious produce, dairy and lean proteins in addition to the non-perishable food items. Being able to provide such healthy foods is a privilege and we are committed to providing it to those in need.”
Since its inception in 1987, ECHO has served over 170,000 area resident, half of whom are children, with emergency food and clothing assistance.
For more information on Mosaic, please visit www.mosaicco.com. For more information on ECHO and how you can help, please visit www.echofl.org.
You must be logged in to post a comment.