TAMPA BAY \u2013\u00a0The Tampa Bay Lightning and Benchmark International today awarded a combined $300,000 in community grants to 12 local non-profit organizations through their \u201cStrikes of Kindness\u201d initiative, marking one of the largest single-day grant distributions in Bolts history.<\/p>\n
Representatives from each organization received a $25,000 grant during a special celebration at Benchmark International Arena. The event took place as the Lightning prepare to open the 2026-27 season, presented by AdventHealth, tonight against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden (The Spot 66, 102.5 The Bone).<\/p>\n
\u201cOur commitment to Tampa Bay goes far beyond having our name on the arena,\u201d said Benchmark International Chief Executive Officer of the Americas Tyrus O\u2019Neill. \u201cStrikes of Kindness gives us an opportunity to invest directly in organizations that are changing lives across our community. We\u2019re proud to stand alongside the Lightning in supporting these 12 outstanding nonprofits, not only with financial resources, but by rolling up our sleeves and serving alongside them throughout the season.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGiving back to the community is a fundamental part of who we are as an organization and Strikes of Kindness allows us to begin the season by celebrating 12 outstanding non-profits that serve Tampa Bay every day,\u201d said Elizabeth Frazier, Lightning Executive Vice President of Community Development and Social Impact. \u201cWe look forward to highlighting their work throughout the year and supporting their missions through both financial contributions and hands-on volunteer service. We\u2019d like to thank our great partners at Benchmark International for helping us make this all possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The grants will help the 12 organizations expand their reach and deepen their impact throughout the Tampa Bay region. Thursday\u2019s event recognized the organizations\u2019 ongoing contributions to the community and celebrated the work they will continue to perform for years to come.<\/p>\n
The event also launched a season-long Strikes of Kindness campaign that will spotlight the work and impact of each participating organization. As part of Thursday\u2019s initiative, Lightning and Benchmark International employees participated in joint volunteer projects at three beneficiary organizations, extending the program\u2019s impact beyond financial support through hands-on community service and direct engagement with the individuals and communities benefiting from the work.<\/p>\n
The 12 nonprofit organizations receiving $25,000 grants were:<\/p>\n
ALS Association
\nBig Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay
\nBullard Family Foundation
\nFeeding Tampa Bay
\nFeeding the Fosters
\nFriends of Joshua House Foundation
\nJunior Achievement of Tampa Bay
\nOperation Healing Forces
\nSpecial Operations Warrior Foundation
\nStraz Center for the Performing Arts
\nTampa Metropolitan Area YMCA
\nVincentian Cares<\/p>\n
Additional Strikes of Kindness initiatives will be announced throughout the season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA BAY \u2013\u00a0The Tampa Bay Lightning and Benchmark International today awarded a combined $300,000 in community grants to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415870,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-415869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415869","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=415869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415869\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}