More Than Pancakes

Lions Club members assembled toiletries for donation baskets to assist people who can not buy them with EBT.

Photograph by Gabrielle Reeder

Following the motto “We serve,” the Gulfport Lions Club is partnering with Feeding Tampa Bay and hosting monthly fresh food drives.

The first food drive was held in the parking lot of the Gulfport Lions Club, at 4630 Tifton Drive S. on May 27 at 4:30 p.m.

“2020 was a horrible year, and a lot of organizations like this lost a lot of members. We’re growing. We’re growing because of people and volunteers working together for hunger relief,” Gulfport Lions Club President Howard Bush said. “It’s all fresh produce. It’s all fresh food. It’s all perishable and it’s all donations.”

Bush hopes this event will take place monthly for the next six months.

Volunteers outside the Feeding Tampa Bay truck in the Gulfport Lions Club parking lot during the first fresh food drive.

Photograph by Gabrielle Reeder

“The process came about with two of our Lions members, the Flack brothers, bringing Feeding Tampa Bay to our attention,” Bush said. “And then with the combined efforts of the entire club, we came up with what you see here right now.”

In addition to food, the Lions Club set up a tent exclusively for toiletries. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s debit system, EBT, allows qualified users to purchase food, however toiletries are not a part of the program.

To find a solution, Bush said the Flack brothers came up with an alternative.

This tent had baskets filled with laundry soap, paper products, shower items and cleaning products for those unable to acquire these items through EBT.

“We’re more than just pancake breakfast,” Bush said. “Everything we do comes back to you. Goes back to the community.”