HEF teams up NFL Green, Community Partners for Super Bowl Initiative to Benefit Local Children

TAMPA, Fla. – November 24, 2020 – Community partners are teaming up with the National Football League, Tampa Bay Super Bowl LV Host Committee and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a Super Bowl project that puts books, sports equipment, school supplies and games in the hands of local children. The project, called Super Kids-Super Sharing, has been implemented in every Super Bowl host community for the past 22 years and area residents are invited to help.

Beginning on “Giving Tuesday,” Dec. 1, through Friday, Dec. 18, Super Kids partners will host collections at their facilities. Donated items will be shared with the children they serve and with Replay Tampa Bay and Boys and Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay. Participating in this effort are the YMCAs of Tampa Bay, Hillsborough Education Foundation, Hillsborough County Parks and Recreation, City of Tampa Parks and Recreation, the City of Tampa, Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful and numerous schools in the Diocese of St. Petersburg.

“It has been incredible to see so many community partners step forward to help local children in need in the midst of a pandemic,” said Susan Groh, Associate Director of NFL Green. “The Tampa Bay community has rallied around the effort to assist local children during these challenging times and helped to find innovative ways to make Super Kids happen.”

Longtime NFL Green partner Verizon has supported the Super Kids initiative for the past eight years by providing grants to organizations that work with children in the Super Bowl host community. This year’s grants included $25,000 to Hillsborough Education Foundation to support innovative school and classroom enrichment opportunities for students and teachers throughout the district, including a STEM camp and robotics program where young ladies in middle and high school could build and test underwater robots. A $20,000 grant was also awarded to the Florida Aquarium to support education and conservation initiatives.

Since its inception in 2000 at Super Bowl XXXIV in Atlanta, the Super Kids-Super Sharing project has placed hundreds of thousands of books, school supplies and sports equipment into the hands of children in Super Bowl host communities.

The Super Kids–Super Sharing project is part of NFL Green. It encourages children and families to repurpose items they no longer need and pass them along to others who can benefit. The program also promotes NFL PLAY 60, the league’s youth health and wellness campaign, by sharing sports equipment among children in the community.

New and very gently used books appropriate for school children, sports equipment of all types, school supplies and board and video games can be dropped off at the following locations and times:

Hillsborough Education Foundation – 2306 N. Howard Avenue, Tampa
Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 5 from 8 a.m. to Noon.

Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful Environmental Education Center–4398 N. Riverside Drive, TampaTampa
Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Hillsborough County Parks & Recreation Facilities

  • All People’s Life Center – 6105 E. Sligh Avenue, Tampa
    Monday-Friday 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to Noon
  • Apollo Beach Recreation Center – 664 Golf and Sea Boulevard, Apollo Beach
    Monday-Friday 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to Noon
  • Ed Radice Sports Complex – 14720 Ed Radice Drive, Tampa (main office near softball fields)
    Monday-Friday 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to Noon
  • William Owen Pass Sports Complex – 1300 Sydney Dover Road, Dover (main office next to softball fields and volleyball courts)
    Monday-Friday 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to Noon

Tampa Parks & Recreation Facilities

  • Jackson Heights NFL YET Center – 3310 E. Lake Avenue, Tampa
    Monday-Friday 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
  • Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Center – 2200 N. Oregon Avenue, Tampa
    Monday-Friday 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
  • Loretta Ingraham Center – 1611 N. Hubert Avenue, Tampa
    Monday-Friday 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
  • Copeland Park – 11011 N. 15th Street, Tampa
    Monday-Friday 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
  • Forest Hills – 724 W 109th Avenue, Tampa
    Monday-Friday 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
  • Springhill Center – 1000 E Eskimo Avenue, Tampa
    Monday-Friday 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
  • Port Tampa Center – 4702 W McCoy Street, Tampa
    Monday-Friday 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
  • Police Athletic League – 1924 W Diana Street, Tampa
    Monday-Thursday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Wayne Papy Center – 6925 N Florida Avenue, Tampa
    Monday-Thursday Noon to 7 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to Noon
  • New Tampa Recreation Center – 17302 Commerce Park Boulevard, Tampa
    Monday-Thursday Noon to 7 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to Noon

Tampa Metropolitan YMCA Facilities

  • Bob Gilbertson Central City Family YMCA – 110 East Palm Avenue, Tampa
    Monday–Friday 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday/Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Bob Sierra North Tampa Family YMCA – 4029 Northdale Boulevard, Tampa
    Monday–Friday 7a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday/Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Campo Family YMCA – 3414 Culbreath Road, Valrico
    Monday–Friday 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday/Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • East Pasco Family YMCA – 37301 Chapel Hill Loop, Zephyrhills
    Monday–Friday 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday/Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • New Tampa Family YMCA -16221 Compton Drive, Tampa
    Monday–Friday 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday/Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • North Brandon Family YMCA – 3097 S. Kingsway Road, Seffner
    Monday–Friday 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday/Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Northwest Hillsborough Family YMCA – 8950 W. Waters Avenue, Tampa
    Monday–Friday 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday/Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Plant City Family YMCA – 1507 YMCA Place, Plant City
    Monday–Friday 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday/Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • South Tampa Family YMCA – 4411 S. Himes Avenue, Tampa
    Monday–Friday 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday/Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Spurlino Family YMCA at Big Bend Road – 9650 Old Big Bend Road, Riverview
    Monday–Friday 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday/Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • YMCA Camp Cristina -9840 Balm Riverview Road, Riverview
    Monday–Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

YMCA of the Suncoast Facilities

  • Clearwater YMCA – 1005 S. Highland Avenue, Clearwater
    Monday–Friday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday/Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  • Greater Ridgecrest YMCA – 801 119th Street, Largo
    Monday–Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  • North Pinellas YMCA – 4550 Village Center Drive, Palm Harbor
    Monday–Friday 3:30 to 9 p.m. and Saturday/Sunday 1:30 to 4 p.m.
  • Citrus Memorial Health Foundation YMCA – 4127 W. Norvell Bryant Highway, Lecanto
    Monday–Friday 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday/Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  • Greater Palm Harbor YMCA – 1600 16th Street, Palm Harbor
    Monday–Friday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday/Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  • Hernando County YMCA – 1300 Mariner Boulevard, Spring Hill
    Monday–Friday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday/Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  • James P. Gills Family YMCA – 8411 Photonics Drive, New Port Richey
    Monday–Friday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday/Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Gently used donated items should be in excellent shape. New items are also welcome. Please follow safety protocols when dropping off items.

Super Kids-Super Sharing is a popular Super Bowl community initiative and traditionally culminates in a large collection and distribution event with hundreds of students attending. Concerns around COVID-19 forced a change in plans and community partners stepped up to make the initiative work by hosting localized collections and distribution of items.

NFL Green Super Kids-Super Sharing is one of several projects created by the NFL to respond to the environmental impact of Super Bowl events and to leave a positive, “green” legacy in the host communities. Unserved prepared food from Super Bowl events will be distributed to local shelters and community kitchens. Solid waste from Super Bowl events will be recycled, and leftover décor and construction materials will be donated to local organizations for reuse and repurposing. A dozen community greening projects have been developed to help create additional green space, pollinator gardens and community gardens, restore habitat in the Tampa Bay area and help restore Florida’s Coral Reef. Raymond James Stadium, the site of Super Bowl LV, and several other major NFL Super Bowl event venues will be powered using “green energy” to reduce the climate impact of Super Bowl events.

These environmental projects are part of a large number of community events and initiatives implemented each year by the NFL and Super Bowl Host Committee to leave a positive benefit in each Super Bowl host community.