Every day, members of the US Armed Forces serve our country in a variety of ways in order to preserve our freedom and protect us from domestic and foreign threats. They provide support in both combat and humanitarian efforts, ensuring our country and its people are protected when most vulnerable. Many spend multiple months deployed to foreign countries, putting our needs and well-being before their own.
The grant tonight will be used to support Blue Star Families and Military Family Advisory Network to continue to fulfill their missions. Blue Star Families supports military and veteran families to build and strengthen communities for all. They will continue expanding their programming and serving nearly 3,200 families in our community. The Military Family Advisory Network will specifically use the funding to address the problem of food insecurity and hunger in military communities. In a pre-COVID survey, 8% of military members were experiencing hunger. MFAN's Combat Military Hunger program seeks to provide assistance educating the community on the issue of food insecurity in the military community and hosting food distribution events at bases where the problem is most prevalent.
Blue Star Families and Military Family Advisory Network, Inc. became the 496th 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 $25.95 million to more than 600 unique nonprofits in the Greater Tampa Bay area. During the summer of 2021, the Viniks announced the community hero program will give away another $10 million over the next five seasons.
