TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 Meals on Wheels of Tampa volunteers distributed nearly 1,000 hurricane preparedness bags to seniors and homebound residents across the community during a one-day effort aimed at helping people prepare for storm season.<\/p>\n
Volunteers packed the kits and delivered them to residents, including stops in Lutz. The bags include shelf-stable meals, water, a manual can opener, a lantern, first-aid supplies and other information.<\/p>\n
Kim Touchton, a Meals on Wheels of Tampa volunteer, said the kits are meant to help residents prepare for uncertainty.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe never know what\u2019s going to happen. We could have a lovely year like we did this past year, or it could be a difficult hurricane season,\u201d Touchton said. \u201cSo, I\u2019m happy to give those kits just to help them in some small way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Touchton said volunteering has also taken on new meaning for her. She said she had to take a year off after being diagnosed with breast cancer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did have to take a year off this past year because I was dealing with a breast cancer diagnosis,\u201d Touchton said. \u201cBut now, last month was my first one back and cancer-free.\u201d<\/p>\n
Touchton said serving residents is her way of thanking the community for the support she received.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m happy to serve them,\u201d Touchton said. \u201cSo it was really special last time. So, any time I get to go now is special.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cindy Vann, director of development for Meals on Wheels of Tampa, said the bags are designed to provide safety and reassurance for people who may not be able to leave their homes because of transportation, age or mobility issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat a comfort, you know, to know that that is on your shelf,\u201d Vann said. \u201cAnd as we\u2019re all told, to prepare, if you\u2019re unable to get out of your house for whatever reason \u2014 transportation, age issues, mobility \u2014 you have it ready for you. So, it\u2019s safety, it\u2019s comfort, and it\u2019s the knowledge that you\u2019re not forgotten.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meals on Wheels of Tampa said the hurricane bags are being distributed only during the one-day effort. The organization continues to deliver hot meals Monday through Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 Meals on Wheels of Tampa volunteers distributed nearly 1,000 hurricane preparedness bags to seniors and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":314312,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[767,274,770,2200,27600,7088,115,12166,135,137,136,278,2032,835],"class_list":["post-314311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-app-community","tag-app-top-stories","tag-community-news","tag-instagram-bn9","tag-julia-hazel","tag-manatee-county","tag-news","tag-storm-season","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-top-stories","tag-trending-topics","tag-vod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=314311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/314312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}