The Food Truck Convoy is keeping small businesses in business while serving meals to thousands of neighbors weekly.

Founded in response to the COVID-19 crisis, The Food Truck Convoy is keeping small businesses
in business while serving meals to thousands of neighbors weekly. Drawing up a new playbook for
community organizations to be innovative, we have coordinated food banks, job programs,
non-profits, small businesses, churches, and volunteers to serve over ten thousand meals to
neighbors who are food insecure. Thanks to food and job fund champions we have put ten food
truck operators back to work and provided over six-hundred meals daily to thirteen St. Petersburg,
FL, neighborhood locations.

Which neighbors are being served meals?

We need to know our neighbors and stand with them during times of struggle. We serve meals to
neighbors ages one-week to one-hundred years old in currently over a dozen St. Petersburg
neighborhood locations (e.g. apartments, planned housing, community centers, Boys & Girls Clubs,
churches, senior centers, and independent living).

Who leads this COVID-19 crisis response effort?

Founded by Dru Rabin, social entrepreneur and small business owner, The Food Truck Convoy is a
result of the “Bird in Hand” principle, which led Dru to check his figurative refrigerator and he found it
already stocked with the ingredients of passion to serve neighbors, collaboration expertise, and a
network that included charities with resources but who were challenged to rapidly reach growing
essential needs of the St. Petersburg community.

Co-Founder, Pastor Blake Clark of Radius Church brought the ground-game leadership and
logistical know-how to this collaborative effort. Through Radius Church’s mission of Tangible Love,
Pastor Blake coordinates weekly food kitchens for the homeless in downtown St. Petersburg and the
beloved PB & J Deli food truck which provides thousands of peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches for
the hungry.

Why Food Trucks?

With community and corporate events cancelled due to COVID-19 food truck owner/operators are
idle and like most small business owners face a financial crisis. Radius Church;s PB & Jelly Deli
truck is part of the food truck community – so we were able to quickly recruit trucks with help from the
organization, Keep St. Petersburg Local. Food Truck operators know how to adhere to food handling
requirements and the trucks make it possible to comply with social distancing guidelines.

How are the Food Truck Owner/Operators compensated?

The St. Petersburg Foundation was our first champion organization to join this collaborative effort.
Thanks to the Foundation’s Job Catalyst Board our food truck operators and staff are compensated
for their time.

Where do the meals for neighbors come from?

The Hangar Restaurant and Feeding Tampa Bay are our champions providing the packaged meals
we serve to our neighbor. Thanks to them we are able to serve a combination of breakfast, lunch,
and dinner.

Follow The Food Truck Convoy on facebook – www.facebook.com/mealstoneighbors

For more information contact Sylvia Ameen, Project Coordinator, sylviaameen@gmail.com, 727.415.5361