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The Power Of One Works Wonders

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 8, 2007

The numbers are in and they're not pretty. Last year, Metropolitan Ministries served 15,336 adults and children during the holiday season.

Are you ready for this year's expected numbers?

More than 22,000.

We in the media get a little cynical this time of year. Maybe because we get so caught up in bad news, so accustomed to seeing the worst in people. So when charities proclaim "it's the worst year ever," we sometimes treat it like the boy who cried wolf. Sure, it is, we say. And we cover the story, even though we may not be convinced it's really so bad.

I'm convinced now.

Florida is in lousy shape. Politicians' promises to fix our homeowner insurance problems and give us some big property tax cuts fizzled. (My home insurance doubled. My taxes dropped $20. Whoop-de-do.) Gas prices are once again rolling up. Local governments, once flush with huge tax revenue because of a ridiculous increase in rates, now are slashing budgets and cutting services Small business owners are closing up shop, unable to pay their mounting bills. I know several people who are dangerously close to foreclosure or can't find jobs to replace the ones they lost as a result of cutbacks.

I don't know what country President Bush is living in when he tells us how swell everything is. I see a country losing ground when it comes to the economy.

That's why I'm taking Metropolitan Ministries more seriously this year.

I asked Morris Hintzman, longtime president of the nonprofit organization, how he sleeps nights during this season, knowing he has to send out the call once again - and hope for an increased response.

"I've been here 26 years, and I've seen this community step up every time," he says. "That doesn't mean they'll do it, but I just keep hoping and praying it happens. And it always seems to."

Talk about faith. That's what you need when you lead an organization that depends on the kindness of others.
Metropolitan Ministries expects to give out gifts to about 30,000 kids this season. There's only one problem: There are only about 2,000 gifts on the holiday tent's shelves.

It Takes A Village ...

Local health organizations are doing their part. Tampa Family Community Health Centers is offering free blood pressure and glucose screenings; Prevent Blindness Florida will provide free vision screenings on Dec. 14 and 21. Volunteers from local troops of Girl and Boy Scouts are putting in community-service hours. Church groups are registering needy families and helping with distribution. It takes a village to get this done.

Hintzman is a big believer in the power of one. If each and every one of us do something - donate one can of food, volunteer at the tent or one of the sites for one hour, buy one toy - we can make some happiness for the neediest of our citizens. How hard is that? One toy, one hour, one dollar. Whatever you can do.

The charity added a new feature to this year's tent: A chapel. Visitors can stop by for some quiet reflection in a little area separated from the main arena. There's a table outside where they can fill out prayer request cards and drop them in a box.

Hundreds so far have responded.

Rows and rows of cards with handwritten notes are hanging on the makeshift walls, filling nearly every square inch of space. And it's not even mid-December yet.

'Powerful' Requests Come In

There's a common theme among the requests. It's not about getting more food, more presents or more money. Most simply ask for healing for their families - emotionally, spiritually and physically.

"Powerful" is how Hintzman, who has seen plenty over the years, describes it.

"It's not about things. It's about the most important thing, and that's the people we love," he says. "They're so sincere; they're so real. And they're so heavy. It's heartbreaking in many ways."

What will become of these requests, growing by the dozens every day? Hintzman says he didn't have a plan when they came up with the chapel idea. Now he does. He'd like local religious groups to divvy up the requests and take them back to their places of worship for the prayer warriors.

What a holiday gift, in this season of Hanukkah and Christmas. And it doesn't cost a dime.

There's a banner with a saying from Mother Teresa hanging next to the chapel. It sums up what we can do in these troubled times, with an uncertain future (let's not forget a war is still going on, and people are still dying) and a shaky economy. Let's not forget our neighbors who aren't feeling so cheery, as a result of circumstances beyond their control, or in some cases, because of bad choices they've made:

"I have found the paradox. That if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love."

One hour, one turkey, one toy, one prayer request. The power of one cannot be overstated.

Metropolitan Ministries' holiday tent is located at 2002 N. Florida Ave., Tampa. Go to www.metromin.org to sign up to volunteer and for other donation drop-off locations, or call (813) 209-1000 for information. See the holiday tent and what it offers in M

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