The featured charity for the Pasco County Tax Collector’s Office in September will be One Community Now’s annual Hunger Walk.
“I applaud One Community Now and the organizers of the Hunger Walk for their commitment to fighting hunger and food insecurity for students in our county,” said Tax Collector Mike Fasano, in a news release.
“Since its inception, we’ve been blessed to field a large team of staff and friends of our office to be a part of ‘Team Tax Collector’ to raise funds for this important charity. We encourage members of the community, who are already so generous in their giving to our charitable programs, to consider donating to this important program as well,” Fasano said.
The Hunger Walk is scheduled for Oct. 2 at 10 a.m., at Sims Park in New Port Richey, and directly funds The Pack-a-Sack 4 Kids Program — the keystone of the food relief efforts of the One Community Now organization.
Children who live in danger of not having food on their dining room table are given a backpack full of healthy meals each Friday, to ensure that they have food to eat over the weekend.
The students return the empty backpack to their school on Monday, at which time it is then refilled for the following weekend.
It is estimated the Pack-a-Sack 4 Kids Program feeds more than 1,600 children each weekend. Since the advent of Covid, the number of kids in need has grown to the point where one out of four Pasco children does not have enough to eat, according to the release.
A majority of those students also qualify for the federal free and reduced lunch program.
To donate to the Hunger Walk or to join Team Tax Collector, visit OneCommunityNowHungerWalk.org/taxcollector.
For more information about the charitable giving programs at the Pasco County Tax Collector’s Office, call Greg Giordano at 727-847-8179, or visit PascoTaxes.com.
For details about One Community Now’s Pack-a-Sack 4 Kids Program, call Executive Director Patti Templeton at 727-900-6280, or visit OneCommunityNow.com.
Published September 01, 2021
