In Tampa Bay, there are stories you can see without words.

A mom with quiet eyes pushing a cart through a grocery store, hoping the box she carries will be enough.

A child tugging at her sleeve, asking if tonight is mac & cheese or nothing at all.

A man who once wore a tie now wearing exhaustion, lining up with strangers who have become neighbors in this moment of need.

This is not a headline from far away.

This is here.

This is us.

Feeding Tampa Bay is not just a warehouse, not just a fleet of trucks, not just a number in a ledger that says “millions of meals served.” It is the living pulse of a community that believes no one should go hungry, not here, not now, not ever.

But hunger still persists.

It lingers in the cracks between our paychecks.

It sits quietly in the back of classrooms.

It hides in the dignity of those who don’t want to ask for help but have no other choice.

And this is where Make Believe Better comes in.

We imagine a world where children don’t fall asleep with empty stomachs.

We imagine a world where a hard week doesn’t erase a family’s dignity.

We imagine a world where “community” means we carry each other; not just with kind words, but with groceries, meals, and presence.

Feeding Tampa Bay doesn’t just imagine that world. They build it; box by box, meal by meal, volunteer by volunteer.

And here’s the part we sometimes forget:

Better isn’t waiting for someone else to show up.

Better is the two hours you give on a Saturday morning to pack groceries.

Better is the smile you bring while handing a meal across a table.

Better is realizing your presence, your time, your willingness; is enough to turn hunger into hope.

This is our backyard. And Feeding Tampa Bay has given us the simplest invitation: 

Help. Show up. Care.

So let’s do more than imagine. Let’s stack the boxes higher. Let’s fill the shelves. Let’s serve the meals. Let’s write the story of Tampa Bay where no one goes hungry, not because it’s a fairy tale, but because we believed enough to make it real.

That’s how we make believe better.