Hillsborough County mother teams up with nonprofit to feed students in need. Here's how you can help
TAMPA, Fla. - Like clockwork every Friday morning, Folsom Elementary School Counselor Gerard Anthony and Behavior Specialist Tonya Brinkley Wright accept donations of more than 100 "food packs," filled with meals and snacks for any students who need something to eat when they go home for the weekend.
"The kids love it," Anthony told FOX 13. "They try to take extra because the food that we do get delivered is pretty good stuff."
It's a weekly, welcome delivery from Hillsborough County-based nonprofit Mind Over Matter.
The backstory:
The organization's 'Food Packs for Kids' program' launched just last year with the help of Executive Director of Programming Megan Mclemore.
![Megan Mclemore partnered with Mind Over Matter to help feed students in need.](https://images.foxtv.com/static.fox13news.com/www.fox13news.com/content/uploads/2025/01/932/524/mind-over-matter-3.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Megan Mclemore partnered with Mind Over Matter to help feed students in need.
Before partnering with the organization, providing food bags to kids in need was something Mclemore did on her own time to give back.
"I have three kids and I've been there; I've been where a lot of these parents are right now and didn't know how I was going to feed my kids," Mclemore recalled. "When I decided to volunteer, I was set. I was good. Life was good and I actually had an abundance. So, my thought has always been, how dare I not give it to people who don't have anything?"
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But when helping Mind Over Matter launch the food pack program in August 2024, she couldn't even anticipate the need that was to come just weeks later, after back-to-back hurricanes ravaged the area.
![Back-to-back hurricanes hit the Tampa Bay area hard just weeks after the Food Packs for Kids program launched.](https://images.foxtv.com/static.fox13news.com/www.fox13news.com/content/uploads/2025/01/932/524/mind-over-matter-4.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Back-to-back hurricanes hit the Tampa Bay area hard just weeks after the Food Packs for Kids program launched.
"The devastation was just incredible, and out of that, our numbers just skyrocketed," Mclemore stressed. "We went to all of our partner schools and asked them if they needed anything extra, and they were like, 'Yeah, we have so many kids right now that are homeless, you know, living in their cars."
Now serving eight schools and one shelter in Hillsborough County, Megan hosts Mind Over Matter families and volunteers every Thursday night at a local church, to divvy up non-perishable food items into about 500 bags that go out every Friday morning – a big 'packing party,' as they like to call it.
"I would say we have like four or five, just, you know, moms. But, then what's really cool is it's become a family thing. So not only do we have the moms, but we have the grandmas and the grandpas and we have the kids," Mclemore said.
![The nonprofit Mind Over Matter helps feed students in need through its Food Packs for Kids program.](https://images.foxtv.com/static.fox13news.com/www.fox13news.com/content/uploads/2025/01/932/524/mind-over-matter-2.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
The nonprofit Mind Over Matter helps feed students in need through its Food Packs for Kids program.
Working with Megan on a regular basis, Gerard and Tonya tell us even the students who receive the bags have enjoyed being a part of the efforts to serve more.
"Not only do they receive food packs, but we actually have kids that help put together the food packs," Anthony added. "So they also get the understanding of giving back to someone as well."
Megan tells FOX 13 that Mind Over Matter just received their first grant to get more food items for the bags, but aside from that, the operation is entirely donation, and volunteer-based.
![The nonprofit Mind Over Matter helps feed students in need through its Food Packs for Kids program.](https://images.foxtv.com/static.fox13news.com/www.fox13news.com/content/uploads/2025/01/932/524/mind-over-matter-1.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
The nonprofit Mind Over Matter helps feed students in need through its Food Packs for Kids program.
She stressed they can always use more snacks and breakfast items, or even volunteer drivers, because they never want to limit how many schools they can help in Hillsborough County. They avoid accepting donations with peanuts, though, due to allergies.
They encourage folks to check out their Amazon storefront by clicking here.
The Source: FOX 13's Regina Gonzalez gathered information and interviews for this story.
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