Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston helped out a community reeling from Hurricane Irma.

  • Jameis Winston, community leaders brought food trucks to Central Ave.
  • Enough food to feed 50 people -- 150 people showed up
  • Also brought people to help guide residents to sign up for FEMA help

Three food trucks were on site outside of a mortgage company on Central Avenue in St. Petersburg to feed 500 people all on Winston’s dime. About 150 people showed up.

The organizer, Lewis Stephens, said Winston reached out to him after the storm.

“He said, 'Lewis, I want to know what’s going on in St. Pete at the time.' He was actually in Alabama at the time," Stephens said. "That’s how dedicated he is to the people here. He was in Alabama with his family during the hurricane, gave me a call probably about three days ago and said I want to know what it is I can do and so we came back and I said hey, it’s about four or five hundred people without lights here and I think we need to feed them and also give them FEMA assistance."

So with the help of other community leaders, the NFL star was able to do just that. For Aria Robinson and her 11-year-old son, Jarodrick, it was exactly the help they needed. 

“I’ve been without power with my family and we needed a meal. So it’s just to stop by and get some help from the community. And maybe possibly have my son meet one of his favorite players and say thank you for helping us but mainly because we’re out of power,” she said.

She’s not alone. That’s why community leaders said they have been offering charging stations for people to charge their phones and free food.

Robinson says the generosity isn’t going unnoticed. “That makes me feel warm and happy and it’s like, oh my god other people do care about St. Petersburg. Even though the Bay Area is a home of all of us together, it’s not just city and county and county, it’s everybody,” she said.

And while this wasn’t an official FEMA disaster recovery center, there were people on hand to guide people through the process of signing up online or by phone. FEMA officials said anything people are doing to help people get signed up for FEMA assistance is a good thing.

FEMA plans to have their disaster recovery centers at locations all over the state in the coming days for people to apply for assistance.

People looking to apply can also head over to https://www.disasterassistance.gov/  or call 1-800-621-FEMA.