TAMPA, FL – The Tampa Bay Lightning honored retired Sandy Kennedy as the Lightning Community Hero this evening during the first period of tonight’s game against the Winnipeg Jets. Kennedy, who received a $50,000 donation from the Lightning Foundation and the Lightning Community Heroes program, presented by Jabil, will donate the money to End 68 Hours of Hunger.
Kennedy has been instrumental in the continual growth of End 68 Hours of Hunger as the strive to serve children who struggle with food insecurity. Although she is technically in retirement, Kennedy spends most of her waking hours working to improve processes and expand the impact End 68 has in our community. She is the logistical leader in coordinating food availability, purchasing, pick up/delivery and pantry restocking, as well as creating and updating lists used by packing teams each week. Her dedication to the mission of End 68 Hours of Hunger has been indispensable to the smooth functioning of the program and has positively impacted countless children and families throughout Hillsborough County.
The funds from tonight’s grant will be used to continue to further and expand the mission of End 68 Hours of Hunger. Specifically, the funds will be used to purchase and deliver food to hungry children in local schools who have been identified by school personnel as being at-risk due to family situations. This year, End 68 expects to serve 800 children in about 300 families each week.
Kennedy became the 558th Lightning Community Hero since Jeff and Penny Vinik introduced the Lightning Community Hero program in 2011-12 with a $10 million, five-season commitment to the Tampa Bay community. Through tonight’s game, in total, the Lightning Foundation has granted $30.27 million to nearly 750 unique nonprofits in the Greater Tampa Bay area. During the summer of 2021, the Viniks announced that the Community Hero program will give away another $10 million over the next five seasons.
