PSTA Partners with Feeding Tampa Bay to Provide Food Pantry Campaign
Target Audience: The target audience for this entry are the residents of Pinellas County who are in need of food or those who struggle to put food on the table.
Strategy Objective:The strategy behind this campaign was to partner with Feeding Tampa Bay to create an annual partnership to provide a mobile food pantry at PSTA where people have easy access to groceries via public transportation. By holding the mobile food pantry at the PSTA Headquarters, it allowed ease of access for many residents because of the number of routes that connect through there.
Situation Challenge: The challenge that necessitated in creating this entry is the growing popularity of food deserts and the lack of access to public transportation to get to food. Many people struggle daily to get food to their homes and partnering to provide a mobile food pantry was the answer. The LeadershipPSTA Class of 2019 used this as their community impact project to connect transit and the community
Results Impact: This event was a first in the Bay area. PSTA was the first transit agency to partner with Feeding Tampa Bay. The event was covered by every news agency in the Tampa Bay area. It was attended by both television and print media. Government officials attended and helped to hand out food. It created a greater public awareness about food deserts and the importance of the mobile food pantry. Leading up to the second event, multiple news agencies wanted to do lead up stories before the event to promote it. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, events hosted at PSTA Headquarters have been postponed. However, an interactive map on PSTA.net/FTB continues to support the effort with frequently updated locations served by PSTA routes. In addition, PSTA donated 600 tote bags to alternate food pantries.
Why Submit: This entry was submitted because this partnership with Feeding Tampa Bay is one of the most important campaigns we have ever done. It draws awareness to the need for food in the County and the need to be able to have adequate transportation to get to it. This is a first in transit for Feeding Tampa Bay, and this is going to be an ongoing partnership. Attendees were surveyed and most stated they were made aware of the mobile pantry from riding the bus and they saw the notices on the bus. This is a partnership that is important to our ridership, community and PSTA Family.