TAMPA, FL – The Tampa Bay Lightning honored Freddy Barton as the Lightning Community Hero this evening during the first period of tonight’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes. Barton, who received a $50,000 donation from the Lightning Foundation and the Lightning Community Heroes program, presented by Jabil, will donate the money to Safe & Sound of Hillsborough County.
Often referred to as the “Godfather of juveniles” in Hillsborough County, Barton is the Executive Director of Safe & Sound of Hillsborough County, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing programs and services to curb and reduce gun violence, address mental health, address place and space for community programming, and to create positive out-of-school opportunities to keep youth safe. Barton aims to take a preventative and proactive approach to working with young men; working with youth as soon as they are at risk of getting into trouble, if not before. As a proud father, Barton works hard to instill values not just in his own sons, but other young men that are a part of Safe & Sound’s programming.
Safe & Sound of Hillsborough County will use the funds to expand their services through its Reporting Center programs, including its Supervised Release Component, Juvenile Holistic Advocacy Program, and newly created Youth Gun Violence Offender Component. The Youth Gun Violence Offender Component works with some of the hardest to serve youth offenders through an experiential learning program. Funds will assist with transportation support, support services for youth to attend required programming and enhanced case management, as well as academic support.
Barton became the 551st 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 $29.92 million to more than 700 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.
