WMNF News file (January 2021).
A Tampa Bay organization is asking for the community’s help to support its upcoming holiday drives.
Through programs meant to alleviate suffering, Metropolitan Ministries’ mission is to serve people experiencing homelessness.
That includes Thanksgiving and Christmas food and toy drives.
For years the organization has been able to host these drives, helping up to 30,000 members of the Tampa Bay community.
“Oh my goodness! I mean, the amount of stories that we hear are just remarkable,” says Dr. Sarah Combs, the President and CEO of Metropolitan Ministries.
She shares that all of their volunteers record what they call a “hope sighting.” Here, they share a touching moment with others.
“We have them write it down so we can collect those stories and hear about how, you know, how much Metropolitan Ministries has done for individuals and families, and especially during the holidays.”
The work needed to host these events does not go unrecognized.
It takes around 1 million pounds of food, 15,000 volunteers, and just over 60,000 toys to support their mission.
Currently, Metropolitan Ministries is struggling to reach its needed volunteers number in order to host for the holidays.
“We have only about 25% of our drives booked, where we should be at 100% right now. And so, we’re really just calling on our community to say, you know, if there’s ways that our residents and those who live in the community can drop off food to be able to help us prepare for those 30,000 families that we’ll be serving would be really appreciated.”
If they can not reach 100% of volunteers, they will not be able to serve the 30,000 families in need.
A large part of the organization’s support comes from the community. Help can range from just donating a toy, to hosting your own drive.
They are also looking for bilingual volunteers, hoping to meet the needs of as many people as possible.
Anyone interested or looking for ways to help can visit metromin.org under “Holiday Central” for more information.