TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Church Members Shop To Feed The Bay

ADVERTISEMENT

By YVETTE C. HAMMETT and D'ANN LAWRENCE WHITE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 23, 2008

Congregants from 21 Brandon and south Hillsborough County churches took the Gospel literally today, leaving services early to help provide for the less fortunate.

"God shows his greatness through us," the Rev. John Guerre told his congregation at Big Bend United Methodist Church, quoting from the book of Matthew.

About 20,000 people were expected to participate in Feed the Bay, an effort to put 250,000 pounds of food on area food bank shelves.

Working off preprinted shopping lists, people shopped at seven Sweetbay and eight Publix stores. Grocery store trucks hauled the food directly to the food banks.

Feed The Bay was launched in 2006 by Bay Life Church in Brandon, whose members collected 30,000 pounds of food in three hours.

By noon, more than 300 people had dropped off donations at the Publix on Bloomingdale Avenue and Bell Shoals Road, according to Scott Higgins of Bell Shoals Baptist Church in Brandon.

The push to stock food banks' shelves comes at a time when charitable donations are down and more people need help.

Buddy Payne, pastor of hospital and benevolent ministries at Bell Shoals Baptist, said he's receiving 15 to 20 calls a day from people needing help.

"It's so great to see so many people reaching out to help their neighbors," said Payne, who helped with the collection at the Bloomingdale Avenue Sweetbay store in Valrico.

The food collected by members of Big Bend United Methodist will go to Good Samaritan Mission in Wimauma, expected to feed about 2,500 people on Thanksgiving Day alone.

"When the economy is down, their needs go up," Guerre said of the food banks. "This will help offset some of those needs."

"We think it's important our children understand what it means to help people who can't help themselves," said Craig Aagaard, shopping with his family at the Sweetbay at U.S. 301 and Big Bend Road.

In addition to the Good Samaritan Mission, the food collected today will go to Beth-El Farm Worker Ministry, Cynthia Pinckney Ministries, Manna on Wheels Ministries, Bread of Life, LifeCare of Brandon, Everyday Blessings, Women's Resource Center, America's Second Harvest of Tampa Bay, Day Star Life Center and Metropolitan Ministries of Tampa.

In two weeks, more volunteers will return to the food banks to help organize the food for distribution.

Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at (813) 865-1566. Reporter D'Ann Lawrence White can be reached at (813) 657-4524.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT