Crafting the vision for Operation Tampa Bay Blitz

This June The Mission Continues (TMC) will be putting boots on the ground in the Greater Tampa Area as part of it’s ninth-annual Mass Deployment Event – Operation Tampa Bay Blitz. Mass Deployments mobilize veterans from across the country alongside local partners and volunteers in a single city for a week of learning, teamwork, and community impact.

Recently staff members from The Mission Continues travelled to Tampa to meet with a group of dedicated community partners to discuss what this week of high-powered impact could look like in their communities and how they might benefit from more than 100 veterans tackling service projects in these key neighborhoods.

Members of TMC’s Platoon Operations, National Events, Marketing & Communications, and Learning & Development teams joined representatives from Jefferson High School, the Veterans Help Group, Homegrown Hillsborough, Habitat for Humanity, the HCFL Department of Veterans Services, the Sustainable Living Project, Volunteers of America-Florida, and the Coca-Cola Company at the incredible Feeding Tampa Bay facility. They came together for an initial planning conversation and to answer any questions from local leaders about this large-scale summer event.

So how did we end up planning for a Tampa Bay Mass Deployment? It’s simple. Tampa is a city defined by it’s strength and reputation for bouncing back. Known for its ability to come back stronger after severe weather-related disasters, Tampa’s strength comes from its deep ties to the military and veteran communities. With over 120,000 veterans in the Greater Tampa Bay Area and MacDill Air Force Base housing more than 12,000 active-duty personnel, Tampa is a city that embodies service and dedication.

“We couldn’t be more excited about putting boots on the ground for Mass Deployment this year in Tampa Bay, because it is a community defined by resilience, community, and service, which accurately sums up the profile of our veterans,” said Annie Hudson, Chief Programs Officer of The Mission Continues. “With the support and enthusiasm we’ve already seen from the communities in the Greater Tampa Area, we know we’re going to be deploying veterans and volunteers into a mission that will produce lasting impacts for all involved.”

This was just the first of many conversations that local community partners and The Mission Continues will have leading up to the June 20th kickoff date, and the excitement of what will be accomplished is beginning to build.