Bruce Springsteen gives shout out to Feeding Tampa Bay during concert

Legendary singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen joined in the effort to end hunger in the region during his show at Amalie Arena on Wednesday night.

The New Jersey native partnered with the local nonprofit Feeding Tampa Bay to help raise money for more than 17,000 healthy meals that will be distributed to people across the region.

“Feeding Tampa Bay provides healthy food and critical services to struggling families in West Central Florida,” Springsteen said before a packed stadium during his set. “We are partnering with them tonight. Give a hand for Feeding Tampa Bay.”

The shoutout came just 24 hours after the organization broke ground at the site of its new headquarters on Tuesday evening. The multi-purpose hub will move the organization one step closer to its goal of ending hunger in the region by 2025.

The $60 million new service center will double the organization’s ability to provide fresh produce and perishable goods to the more than one million people struggling with food insecurity in the region, while also reducing meal costs. It will be built off of Causeway Boulevard in Tampa.

In addition to expanding food availability, the 217,000 square foot building will host a number of services aimed at helping people gain stability and live healthy lives.

Thomas Mantz, the nonprofit’s chief executive officer, said the intention is for the building to be a community center as much as it is a food bank.

“We want to build a different vision for how we can look after our friends and neighbors,” Mantz said. “It’s not just people who are food insecure. It’s people who are economically unstable, people who are struggling with rent or gas prices or food prices.”

About 50% of the facility’s non-warehouse space will be designated to services ranging from legal consultations and insurance enrollment help, to English classes and workforce training. Providing health care will also be a focus.

Those offerings will be made possible by community partners who will share space in the facility, Mantz said. That’s critical to the long term goal of creating opportunities for people to thrive.

“We’ve spent years studying how to transform a community,” Mantz said. “We’re really going for it.”

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The new headquarters is expected to be completed in 2024. The expansion will grow Feeding Tampa Bay’s economic impact from $350 million to $460 million annually.