Tampa Jewish Family Services opens second food bank in South Tampa to combat rising food insecurity

Tampa Jewish Family Services celebrated the opening of its second food bank location today, expanding services to meet a 400% increase in demand for emergency food assistance over the past two years.

Dr. Beth Ann Gemunder, CEO of Tampa Jewish Family Services, said the organization decided to open the south Tampa location after distributing more than 40 emergency food bags monthly from their offices alone.

"We ended up giving out over 40 food bank emergency food bags a month just out of our offices," Gemunder said. "We're like, oh my goodness, there's need here in the south, and clearly that need is not being met."

The new South Tampa Community Food Bank will operate at Congregation Rodeph Sholom, located at 2713 Bayshore Boulevard. Monthly distributions are scheduled for the last Monday