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A Top-Drawer Dinner

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By KEITH MORELLI, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 22, 2007

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

The cafe has been having Thanksgiving dinner for six years, prepared by its one and only full-time employee, five-star chef Alfred Astl. Word about the meal spread quickly among the needy, who began lining up two hours before the meal was served at the cafe on the second floor of the Salvation Army shelter at 1514 N. Florida Ave.

Dale Saunders greeted diners at the door and showed them to their tables. About 30 volunteers served up a 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 a good construction job until a year ago when a drug addiction took over his life. He lost his job and found himself homeless. He no longer drinks or takes drugs, he said, but still lives on the streets sleeping where he can, trying to keep out of trouble.

"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 and others who came to the site received a new backpack with shirts and toiletries inside, along with a candy cane and a Bible.

"My plan," Shellman said "is to get back into society, to get back on my feet."

In its six years, the Trinity Cafe has served about 400,000 meals. It opened Oct. 15, 2001, funded solely by donations and grants.

Some donations are small: $5. Some are six-figures. Five grants for $100,000 came from the Allegheny Foundation, the Publix Foundation, the Ferman Family Foundation, TECO and Time Warner.

As the lunch hour wound down, Daniel Alderman, 38, of Brunswick, Ga., shuffled in. He wasn't there to eat, but wanted to get a backpack. He recently got out of jail in Florida and was waiting for a ride back home, he said. Meanwhile, he lives on the streets of Tampa.

He was impressed with the volunteers 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. Trinity Cafe needs volunteer hosts, table companions and kitchen help to serve lunch from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., weekdays. Call (813) 865-4820.

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