Community Spotlight: WellCare Employees Help To End Hunger In Tampa Bay

BRADENTON – A team of more than 50 employees from WellCare Health Plans, Inc. recently joined Feeding America Tampa Bay to help prepare food supplies for distribution across the Tampa Bay area. Company employees also donated approximately 2,400 pounds of food.

Feeding America is the largest domestic hunger relief organization in the country, consisting of more than 200 food banks. Feeding America Tampa Bay is a member of the national Feeding America network and a resource to 600 local charities, including soup kitchens, food pantries and emergency shelters. Working together with member charities, they leverage food donor relationships and transport food to feed the hungry in west central Florida.

“Our mission is ‘Ending Hunger, Nourishing Hope,’ and it takes a united effort by a broad range of stakeholders to ensure that food assistance is available in all of our communities,” said Chris Smith, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors, Feeding America Tampa Bay. “With support from partners like WellCare, we are working to make the Tampa Bay area hunger free.”

“WellCare is committed to helping our members lead better and healthier lives, and we continue to develop relationships with partners in the areas we serve to ensure the needs of the community are met,” said Lisa Iglesias, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, and one of the WellCare volunteers. “We look forward to building our new partnership with Feeding America Tampa Bay.”

About WellCare Health Plans, Inc.

WellCare Health Plans, Inc. provides managed care services targeted to government-sponsored health care programs, focusing on Medicaid and Medicare. Headquartered in Tampa, Fla., WellCare offers a variety of health plans for families, children, and the aged, blind, and disabled, as well as prescription drug plans. The company serves approximately 2.7 million members nationwide as of Dec. 31, 2012. For more information about WellCare, please visit the company's website at www.wellcare.com.

About Feeding America Tampa Bay

Founded in 1982, Feeding America Tampa Bay makes a difference in the lives of thousands of people each week through its distribution to a partnership network of more than 600 faith-based and other incorporated non-profit hunger relief organizations. The food bank’s mission, “Ending Hunger, Nourishing Hope,” serves a food-insecure population of close to 700,000 residents across West Central Florida; 250,000 of those struggling with hunger in the area are children. Receiving surplus food donations from growers, manufacturers, supermarkets and organized community food drives, Feeding America Tampa Bay supplied more than 35 million pounds of food to its 10-county service area in the past year - enough to provide more than 2 million  meals every month to those who would otherwise go hungry. Feeding America Tampa Bay is a member of the national Feeding America network. For more information, please visit www.feedingamericatampabay.org.