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Trinity Cafe Serves Up Turkey To Needy A Day Early

Trinune photo by Julie Busch

Jerry Myer, of Carrollwood, happily serves Thanksgiving dinner to guests at Trinity Cafe in Tampa Wednesday.

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 21, 2007

Audio Slide Show: Inside Trinity Cafe | Holiday Guide

TAMPA - Two hundred homeless people were treated to a gourmet meal of turkey with all the fixings and pumpkin pie with spiced whipped cream today. Many gave thanks for the Trinity Café.

The café, located on the second floor of the Salvation Army shelter on North Florida Avenue, has been hosting Thanksgiving dinner for six years now, prepared by the one and only full-time employee, five-star Chef Alfred Asti. Word about the meal spread quickly among the needy, who began lining up for the first-come, first-served meal at 9:30 a.m., two hours before the meal was served.

Dale Saunders greeted the homeless at the door and showed them to their tables. She was friendly and courteous. About 30 volunteers served up the spread that included beef and vegetable soup, turkey, dressing, yams and green beans cooked with onions and bacon. Volunteers helped the chef and cleaned the tables as well.

For Joseph Shellman, 48 and living on the streets, the feast was bittersweet.

The Tampa man said he held down a good construction job until a year ago when a drug addiction took over his life. He lost his job and everything he had and found himself homeless. Since then, he has pulled himself back to normalcy. He no longer drinks or takes drugs, he said. But he still lives on the streets, sleeping where he can, trying to keep out of trouble and staying safe.

"Thanksgiving is tough," he said. "There are a lot of memories of old times. But it's just another day out here on the streets."

Shellman, along with everyone else, was given a new backpack with shirts and toiletries inside, along with a candy cane and a Bible.

A much appreciative Shellman said this helps on his road back to the regular world.

"My plan," he said as he left the dining room, "is to get back into society, to get back on my feet."

Before the meal was served, about 30 volunteers were given their marching orders from coordinator Tom Derzypolski. He told them to treat the diners with respect. Today, he said, they deserve to be served with dignity. There were cautions, too.

"These folks are hungry and now and then, they will ask for seconds or to-go bags," he said. "We are not equipped to do that."

He told the volunteers not to give any money to anyone, either.

"We don't provide money for a bus ticket," he said. "We just provide them with a first-class meal."

Volunteers all joined hands around the room and prayed before the door was opened and the hungry customers filed in.

Later, Derzypolski said there never has been a problem getting enough volunteers for the holidays, when the sumptuous meals are served up. But Trinity Café is open all the time, and getting volunteers in February, March and April can be, at times, a problem.

There were no such issues today. Waiters held up hands when seats opened up and they were quickly filled. Soups, bread and entrees flew out of the kitchen and onto tables and into mouths in quick order. All 200 diners were served in an hour's time.

The Trinity Café has been preparing meals for the homeless and shelter-bound for six years and has served up about 400,000 meals.

Most of Trinity Cafe's customers, who get fed on Mondays through Fridays through the year, are homeless and jobless. But the working poor, a growing segment of the population, also dine at Trinity Café, often at the ends of months when they run out of money to feed themselves and their families. Women, children, the elderly, and physically and mentally challenged individuals are part of the multitudes served.

Here are some random notes on the Trinity Café:

The eatery opened on Oct. 15, 2001, and is funded solely by donations and grants.

Some donations are small, $5. Some are large, in the six-figure range. Five grants have been received for $100,000 from the Allegheny Foundation, the Publix Foundation, the Ferman Family Foundation, TECO and Time Warner.

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneer John Cannon raised more than $12,500 with his race team in a recent Boston Marathon.

More than 500 volunteers have participated in helping the café out over the years, and as many as 30 volunteers serve up the meals on any given day.

Trinity Café needs volunteer hosts, table companions and kitchen help to serve lunch from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Anyone interested in volunteering can call (813) 865-4820.

As the lunch hour began to wind down, Daniel Alderman, 38, of Brunswick, Ga., shuffled in. He wasn't there to eat, but he did want to get a backpack to carry his belongings. He recently got out of jail in Florida and was waiting for a ride back home, he said. In the meantime, he lives on the streets of Tampa.

He was impressed with the volunteers working at the Trinity Cafe.

"I walked in here the other day and I have never seen so much love in all my life," he said. "It touched my heart."

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

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