Seeds of Hope was established in 2009 by Leda Eaton. Seeds of Hope helps fill the gap that exists for families that are food insecure. It helps fill this gap in three different ways.
First, it offers a weekly food bank every Thursday between 5-7 p.m. at Presbyterian Church of Bloomingdale located at 710 E. Bloomingdale Ave. in Brandon. At this location, it provides between 300-350 boxes of food.
Secondly, it offers a backpack program operated out of Barrington Middle School where students pack backpacks weekly for elementary students identified as food insecure. These backpacks provide weekend food. Students in need are selected by teachers and social workers. During the school year, Seeds of Hope serves around 150 students weekly and about 70 during the summer term.
Thirdly, Seeds of Hope offers a mobile pantry for people who need short-term food assistance, usually due to an unexpected death of a family member, divorce, loss of employment or illness.
Seeds of Hope is unlike many food pantries because its eligibility requirements are simple. If you need food, you can get it.
Eaton said, “We have found that it takes a while for government agencies to approve SNAP benefits, and when people are faced with a crisis, the need is immediate. Waiting for assistance could take months. With us, it is immediate. We help provide food without the red tape.”
Seeds of Hope provides fresh and shelf-stable food during its weekly distributions as well as shelf-stable food to students during the school year. In addition, anyone who is homeless can come for help on a weekly basis. The homeless have specific needs, such as bikes or personal care items, so Seeds of Hope strives to provide those as well.
Annually, Seeds of Hope distributes over 16,000 boxes of food, or an average of 640,000 pounds or more of food, to those in need. Additionally, through its backpack program, it gives over 1,650 backpacks of food and over 8,000 additional pounds of food. When Seeds of Hope was first started, Feeding America showed that Southeastern Hillsborough was a food desert, with Seeds of Hope being one of the few food banks in the area.
Donations can be dropped off at 710 E. Bloomingdale Ave. on Thursdays between 9 a.m.-4 p.m. You can also drop off donations at several partner locations, including RockStar Fit Camp, Action Karate, Eaton Realty and more. For more information, please visit https://sohopefl.org/.
