By Teresa Peterson
Nativity Catholic Church in Brandon held a news conference and appreciation event to announce a major milestone: over 2 million meals distributed in 2024.
“In 2024, we distributed 3,170,728 pounds of food. That equates to over 2 million meals, and we continue to grow. I don’t see a finish line in sight,” said Julie Ebert, volunteer director of the food bank that is run by all volunteers and one staff person.
“The best part of this story is the players, the wonderful volunteers that come here Monday through Friday to help feed the food insecure. When you take a closer look, you’ll be amazed at seeing all these hardworking men and women are all over, or close to the age of 65, getting the job done,” added Ebert, who is in her 70s.
Nativity Catholic Church started a food pantry in 1983 and as time passed, it grew into a food bank that started giving food to other churches and organization. Now, it provides food for 70 food pantries and 10 other groups in the area.
Nativity Food Bank supplies food to Aurea Rodriguez and her volunteer team of eight people. They have been bringing food to local farmworkers for 17 years.
“On average, we collect and deliver these items to 35 farmworker families per week in the Valrico and Dover area. The most important thing is to bring smiles to the kids, to be of some comfort, to be a shoulder to cry on, to give them information about local services and referrals and to let them know that someone cares and they are not alone,” said Rodriguez.
Deacon Ed Anctil also relies on Nativity Food Bank. Once a month, members of his parish, Mary Help of Christians Center, bring food to homeless individuals and families near a vacant lot on Busch Boulevard in Tampa.
“We provide each family with an essential bag of food. The food items taken from Nativity Food Bank allow us to set up tables so that each person can take food items they will be able to use for themselves or for their families. We not only receive food, but we also receive miscellaneous toiletry items, toilet paper, diapers and baby items, which allows us to add additional service to the young families with small children who come to us,” said Anctil.
Father Mike Smith, pastor of Nativity Catholic, shared a message of gratitude during the news conference.
“We’re very privileged to have the work of the volunteers, the generosity of the donors, the support of our bishop and the Diocese of Saint Petersburg to do the work that we do,” said Smith.
In 2022, Nativity Food Bank moved to a new, larger warehouse that greatly increased its capacity. This effort was supported by other Catholic churches in the area that worked together to make a difference. Catholic Charities also provided land for the new warehouse at San Jose Mission in Dover.
“I’m very proud that our parishes were able to work together to make this a reality here today,” said Bishop Gregory Parkes.
“It’s really remarkable what can happen when community partners come together to try to solve or to tackle a need. And of course, we know that hunger is definitely a big need in our communities today,” added Parkes.
Nativity extends profound gratitude to all its partners and donors, with special recognition going to Feeding Tampa Bay; Publix; Costco; Sprouts; the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office; Walmart; Wawa; Dollar General; St. Stephen Parish and Resurrection Parish, Riverview; St. Timothy Parish, Lutz; St. Francis of Assisi, Parish, Seffner; Mary Help of Christians Parish, Brandon; Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission, Wimauma; St. Anne Parish, Ruskin; Prince of Peace Parish, Sun City Center; and Catholic Charities.
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