Page 11 - Florida Sentinel 8-7-20

Feature
East Tampa Non-Profit Partners With Hillsborough County To Distribute Food
BY GWEN HAYES Sentinel Editor
The East Tampa Business and Civic Association, Inc., (ETBCA) has partnered with the Hillsborough County Board of County Commis- sioners to distribute food to residents in East Tampa.
State Rep. Dianne Hart, chair of ETBCA, said she realized there are feeding sites set up throughout the community, but limited sites in East Tampa.
“I know that so many peo- ple are suffering. I felt the need to help in some way, and I reached out to our Board and they agreed.
“We needed partners so we reached out to the Board of County Commissioners and they were pleased to
REP. DIANNE HART
partner with us,” she said. “So many people don’t have transportation and cannot get to some of these other sites. This brings it a little closer to home.”
The food distribution is funded by the CARES Act
dollars.
This week (Wednesday
and Thursday), ETBCA and the County will be distribut- ing food in a drive- through at New Mt. Zion M. B. Church, 2511 E. Columbus Dr. (Tampa 33605), 10 a. m. –1p.m.
The partnership will go through the next 4 months, Rep. Hart said. Starting on Monday, August 10th, the drive-through will be Monday-Thursday, 10 a. m.–1p.m.
Additionally, there are plans to extend the food dis- tribution to Wimauma, Ruskin, Thonotosassa and Progress Village.
“We get calls from people everyday needing some type of help. This is something we can do,” she said.
Early Voting Continues Through August 16th
Early Voting in Hillsbor- ough County began on Monday, August 3rd. Voters will be able to vote at desig- nated sites until August 16th.
The Primary Election will take place on Tuesday, August 18th. Those who de- cide to wait until the Pri- mary Election will be required to vote at their as- signed precincts.
On the first day of Early Voting, 1,654 people cast ballots. On the second day, 1,604 people cast ballots. A total of 91,386 vote-by-mail ballots were counted at the end of the day on Tuesday.
The busiest Early Voting sites on Monday were Bloomingdale Regional Public Library, Bruton Me- morial Library and Jan
Kaminis Platt Regional Li- brary.
On Tuesday, the busiest sites were Bloomingdale Regional Public Library, Jan Kaminis Platt Regional Library, and Jimmie B. Keel Regional Library.
Early Voting continues every day through August 16 (including weekends), 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 24 sites throughout the county.
During Early Voting, residents can go to any of these locations to vote.
The elections office has also taken extensive meas- ures to ensure the health and safety of in-person vot- ing, and has posted a video preview on the 2020 Pri- mary Election page of their website.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2020 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY PAGE 11-A