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Community Responds To Agency's Call For Food

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By NICOLA M. WHITE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 9, 2007

TAMPA - Sunday afternoon, the situation at Metropolitan Ministries was dire: There was only a day's worth of food remaining at the Florida Avenue food pantry.

By Monday, word got out through the media that the faith-based agency needed help. By Tuesday, Tampa Bay residents delivered.

The public has donated 4,100 pounds of food - enough to fill 200 "boxes of hope," said Ana Mendez, the agency's public relations director.

One man told the agency to bring a truck to Costco on Thursday morning and fill it with $1,000 worth of food. A woman donated $3,000, Mendez said.

The hope boxes contain nonperishable food items such as canned soup, macaroni and cheese and canned tuna. Between 100 and 150 needy families and single people collect these boxes every day. "It's just great to see the community come together and rally," Mendez said.

Metropolitan Ministries collects food and money year round. For information, call (813) 209-1000 or visit www.metromin.org. The agency is at 2002 N. Florida Ave., Tampa.

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