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Kristin Burke with Feeding Tampa Bay.
By Amy Miller, American Red Cross
Bringing organizations together to uplift the community is familiar territory for Kristin Burke, Senior Director of Business Development at Feeding Tampa Bay. Feeding Tampa Bay, affiliated with Feeding America, opened a one-stop-shop facility in where community members in the Tampa area and surrounding counties can not only get a meal, but also access basic health services, educational classes, job training, and connections to other nonprofits.
“Our vision now is not just food,” said Burke. “We’re showcasing how “feeding” means more than just food.”
The new Feeding Tampa Bay facility has been open for just over five months and offers spaces for their community partners to use for outreach. More than 20 other organizations rotate into these shared spaces based on the needs of the individuals who visit Feeding Tampa Bay, all in an effort to break the cycle of food insecurity.
“We’re opening our doors to the community and connecting residents directly to resources,” said Burke.
So, when the American Red Cross reached out to Feeding Tampa Bay for assistance with the response to Hurricane Milton, Feeding Tampa Bay was ready for the collaboration. Burke wasn’t surprised when the Red Cross reached out. She shared that the need in the community after the hurricane swept through Florida is greater than any one organization can manage on their own.
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Red Cross Volunteer Sivani Babu in front of the Feeding Tampa Bay building.
“We each play a different part, so when we do it together it makes a lot more sense.” - Kristin Burke, Senior Director of Business Development at Feeding Tampa Bay
“This not a one-organization job by any means,” said Burke. “Part of the intention of the building was to determine how we could work together as a community.”
Feeding Tampa Bay temporarily became the headquarters for the Red Cross disaster response in Florida – and the collaboration went a step further, when the Red Cross and Feeding Tampa Bay jointly delivered 1,100 hot, cooked meals to communities in Tampa over the weekend.
“We have an 11,000 square foot kitchen here where we’ve been producing hot meals since Helene,” said Burke. Feeding Tampa Bay had limited resources for delivering those meals directly to communities, and that’s where the Red Cross stepped in with volunteers and emergency response vehicles (ERVs). “We had three ERVs, loaded them up and gave them routes. They were great to work with.”
Collaborating with the Red Cross was also personal for Burke: She had been a part of the Red Cross of Central Florida for 10 years before moving to Feeding Tampa Bay.
“Volunteers were already here for Helene and are staying longer [for Milton],” said Burke. “I think that’s one of the things that I’ve always admired about the [Red Cross] volunteers - they’re very generous with their time.”
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