The “Seeds of Hope” Backpack Food Program Softball Tournament to benefit the chronically hungry elementary Seeds of Hopesoftballschool children and families in our surrounding communities will be held on Saturday and Sunday, March 29 and 30. It will be played at the FishHawk Ranch Hawk Park sports complex, located off of Lithia Pinecrest Rd. Saturday’s opening ceremonies will start at 8:30 a.m. and continue through 6 p.m. Sunday’s start time is 9 a.m. and will end at 2 p.m.

These ‘backpacks’ are filled with simple food items for the students to take home from school every Thursday. Food items the children can make themselves, such as peanut butter and jelly, are needed as many of these children are alone after school well into the night. Backpacks are then returned back to the school by the children on Friday/Monday and refilled for pick up and taken home the following Thursday. Timothy Coffee from the FishHawk Softball League said, “The League chose the Seeds of Hope Backpack Food Program for our next charity event as this charity is something we can ‘touch and feel’.”

Seeds of Hope Tournament LogoThe program, which began last October, currently has 11 families from Valrico Elementary and 46 families from Pinecrest Elementary enrolled. Numerous families in both schools are on a waiting list for the program in addition to many other children and families at Stowers Elementary, Lithia Springs Elementary and other surrounding schools.

Sponsors are being sought for this tournament. Sponsorships will be tiered this year in to gold/silver/bronze. Gold sponsorship costs $360 and supplies one backpack for a nine month school year. The sponsoring company’s logo will be displayed in the top spot of the tournament T-shirt. Silver sponsorship costs $240 and supplies one backpack for six months. The company logo will be displayed in the middle section of the tournament T-shirt. A bronze sponsorship costs $120 and will supply one backpack for three months.

Because this tournament is associated with Seeds of Hope, Inc, which is a 501(c)(3) locally based charity, all sponsors will receive a receipt for their donations, which are tax deductible.

Sponsors can have their company banner displayed at the ballpark during the entire event. To sponsor, email fishawksoftball@yahoo.com.

 

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Michelle Colesanti
Michelle Colesanti
Michelle has been with the Osprey Observer for almost nine years, and her current position is Assignment Editor. She resides in Bloomingdale with her husband Phil, two sons, Philip and Matthew, and Tigger the cat.