The Metropolitan Ministries Holiday Tent in Tampa is officially open and accepting donations for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays and once again, your help is needed more than ever.
This year, the non-profit which serves our six county region, expects to assist more than 33,000 families. Supply chain issues are contributing to a shortage of much needed items for the holidays. Metropolitan Ministries has bulk purchased many food items for families, however they need the community’s help to fill in the gaps.
The most needed food items include:
- stuffing
- cranberry sauce
- gravy
- yams
Each family that receives help from Metropolitan Ministries is given a Box of Hope–with enough food for a holiday meal for each person in their family. It’s roughly the equivalent of 60 semi-truck trailers of food or more than 1 million pounds of food.
That’s a lot of food and why they’re reaching out to the community to help fulfill the need.
If you have some time this week, take the kids along for a shopping trip and let them pick out these desperately needed items. You can drop them off at the following Holiday Tent location:
Tampa Holiday Tent:
2609 N Rome Avenue, Tampa 33607
Pasco County location:
3214 US Highway 19 N, Holiday 34691
You can locate other drop-off locations near you here.
*If you’d prefer to shop online, you can do so here to help.
There is also a need for your time as a volunteer. They need 21,466 people to help inside the Holiday Tent and in distribution locations throughout Tampa Bay. Kids as young as 8 years old can volunteer with their parents in the Holiday Tent, so this is a great way to teach your kids the importance of giving back. Learn more here.
Learn more about how you can donate by visiting www.metromin.org.
More stories we think you’ll love:
- 12+ Places to Donate New Toys in Tampa Bay this Holiday Season
- A Season of Giving: 10 Ways to Give Back as a Family in Tampa Bay
- Paws for Literacy: A Kid-Friendly Way to Volunteer at the Humane Society of Tampa Bay, plus MORE ways to volunteer as a family