TAMPA, Fla. (WWSB) – Well here at ABC7 one of our core initiatives is fighting hunger and food insecurity in the Suncoast community.
We do this through partnering with organizations such as All Faith’s Food Bank and Meals on Wheels Plus of Manatee.
Another local organization, The Mosaic Company, is jumping into action with this too. They are partnering with the Tampa Bay Rays to fight food insecurity through a community impact program.
Among those helping out this week is Rays outfielder Jake Mangum and Raymond, the Rays mascot. Mangum says it’s amazing to get to be apart of such an important initiative.
“Just to give back to the community that supports us and really anywhere,” Mangum said. “Any time that you can give back to the community, it’s something that we really want to do.”
This program for the partnership is called Runs for Food. For every home run scored by a Rays player at a home game, Mosaic donates $500 to five local Meals on Wheels organizations.
Among them is Meals on Wheels of Manatee. The senior vice president of Mosaic, Phil Bauer, says it’s a celebration in more than one way. “What better way to celebrate a successful sports team is by scoring,” Bauer said. “They’re scoring runs. For us at Mosaic, we’re scoring in our community by really maximizing the impact that we have.”
The distribution of meals went out to the elderly, homebound and disabled citizens on Mosaic Cares Day. “Right here, at Meals on Wheels (Tampa) they have their own kitchen and they actually make the meals,” Bauer said.
When it comes to jumping into action, Mangum says he considers it a blessing to play for an organization who goes above and beyond to be bigger than the game.
“We talk about how we want to score runs because we’re trying to win a baseball game,” Mangum said. “At the end of the day, it’s just a game. This is something that’s much bigger than what we do for a living.”
This Friday, September 19, is actually a Mosaic sponsored Rays game when they host the Boston Red Sox at Steinbrenner Field.
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