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IBEW, Verizon Team for Tampa Hunger Campaign

May 11, 2011

A national recession, high unemployment rate and sagging Florida housing market mean tough times persist in the Sunshine State.

In Tampa Bay alone, more than 400,000 people rely on meal assistance, a Verizon ad being broadcast locally says. But the telecommunications company and its partner, Tampa Local 824, have teamed in a campaign called “Kindness Tampa Bay.”

Click here or scroll down to view the 30-second commercial.

Local 824 Business Manager Robert Prunn said the campaign’s goal is to collect 20,000 pounds of food by the end of June. Collection bins for non-perishable food items have been set up at 42 work locations across Tampa, and so far, employees have been embracing the challenge.

Said Prunn:

We’ve got buildings and work locations competing against each other to see who can bring the most food.

The media campaign includes a commercial running on an NBC affiliate and the company’s FiOS network as well as a print ad in the Tampa Tribune. Prunn said Verizon executives approached him to ask whether the IBEW would partner with Verizon for the public campaign. After a brief discussion with members, he accepted the challenge on behalf of the 3,000 Local 824 members employed by Verizon.

Giving us the public recognition was tremendous. And our members love that the IBEW is on TV.

All of the donations will go to Feeding America Tampa Bay, the local chapter of the country’s largest charitable hunger relief organization.

An excerpt of the print ad says:

It’s a powerful promise that can bring hope to the hundreds of thousands of people in the Tampa Bay area who rely on food donations from Feeding America Tampa Bay for their meals.

Join the members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 824 and the employees of Verizon to give the gift of kindness. We can all do it. Today!

Much of Verizon’s growth in recent years has been due to FiOS, its fiber optic network delivering television and high-speed Internet. IBEW members splice cables, install the service and maintain the system. 

Photo used under a Creative Commons license from Flickr user Ron Sombilon Gallery.