Justin Coles, Rebuilding Together Tampa Bay
On Thursday June 24th, 2021, Rebuilding Together Tampa Bay, teamed up with one very special volunteer, Tampa Bay Buc’s wide receiver Chris Godwin, to provide essential repairs for six neighbors in Tampa Bay as part of the Lowe’s “Home For A Home” Super Bowl campaign. In one day over 100 volunteers from Lowe’s, Enterprising Latinas, the Tampa Police Dept., and Rebuilding Together Tampa Bay transformed the homes and lives of 6 essential frontline workers, who have been risking their lives keeping our communities and lives safe throughout the COVID pandemic.
Fran Tate, a coder at the Moffit Cancer Center, and one of the homeowners whose homes were transformed, noted that she has been “Extremely busy with COVID and our patient load at Moffitt [Cancer Center], it’s really been a lot,” she adds, saying it was difficult for her to keep her home maintained over the last year. This day of volunteering took the stress and anxiety off their shoulders constantly worrying about their homes while doing essential work throughout the pandemic.
COVID made volunteering difficult and continues to make it difficult. What this diverse group of volunteers showed was that with the right safety precautions, in one day, we could [Re]Build lives together making our communities safer and healthier for those working so hard for us. It showed that we could have someone like Chris Godwin next to a Lowe’s employee and a Tampa Police Officer pitching in and that together no matter who you are you can make a difference. We invite anyone who is interested to contact us at Rebuilding Together Tampa Bay to inquire about how you too can make a difference through our volunteer program and partnerships.