NE Tallahassee Concert Helps FSU Food for Thought Pantry Address Food Insecurity

• Local musicians hosted a free “Music for Food” concert to benefit FSU’s Food for Thought Pantry.
• Neighbors came by with money and food.
• Watch the video to hear how the musicians and neighbors are addressing food insecurity for students in our communities.

TRANSCRIPT OF THE BROADCAST:

Music feeds our soul and food feeds our community.

That is the goal of a local music concert for the benefit of the FSU food bank.

My name is Kenya Cardonne and I live in the Northeast Tallahassee neighborhood.

With 1 in 5 FSU students facing food insecurity, local musicians are joining forces to change that.

Haley Gentile, FSU Food for Thought Pantry Director – “Food insecurity has many negative consequences for students. We know it leads to lower GPAs, more failed courses, and makes it harder to focus.”

Haley Gentile is manager of the Food for Thought Pantry at Florida State University.

The food bank’s mission is to take the fight against food insecurity away from students and replace it with food.

Gentile tells me she’s seen a lot of need for this resource among FSU students lately.

Gentile – “In the month of June 2024, we served just under 400 different students at the FSU Food for Thought Pantry. For a typical summer month, we usually serve about half of that. So it’s almost double the size of a typical summer month.”

To ensure that pantry shelves are stocked for this kind of demand, a group of Tallahassee musicians hosted a free “Music for Food” concert at Grace Lutheran Church on Sunday. The event directly benefited the Food for Thought Pantry.

Neighbors came by with donations and non-perishable food items, after which they could enjoy the musical accompaniment.

Corinne Stillwell, Co-Artistic Director: “I see the need for this every day with my own students and with the students at our university. As musicians, we wanted to come together and support this.”

Corinne Stillwell, FSU professor and artistic co-director of the event, says I help the food bank address food insecurity through these concerts, and it’s an ongoing mission.

Stillwell – “So far, we’ve raised over $7,000 since 2019. We hope that as our momentum builds as we rebuild as a series, we’ll build momentum in donations as well.”

Gentile tells me that donations will do more than just stock the pantry shelves.

Gentile – “They can focus on their studies and the reason they came to Florida State University. I like to think about it because we are supporting students so that they can be self-reliant in the future.”

If you missed Sunday’s concert, there will be another concert on October 6th.

Click here to find out how you can contribute to the food bank in the meantime.

In northeast Tallahassee, Kenya Cardonne, ABC 27.