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Charities Struggle As Demand For Help Increases

Tribune photo by JULIE BUSCH

George Hoock serves lunch to customers at Trinity Cafe in the Salvation Army building in Tampa. Hoock has been a volunteer food server every Tuesday for the past seven years.

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By YVETTE C. HAMMETT | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 22, 2008

TAMPA - Some 200 families walked away from Metropolitan Ministries on Tuesday empty-handed and hungry.

The food pantry was near bare; the toy chest, near empty.

Staff members urged the families to return later in the week when there might be more to offer.

"We've never had to do that before. It's a first," said Ana Mendez, community relations manager for the Tampa charity that caters to the homeless.

"We're hoping that by getting the word out, we'll be able to meet the needs."

At the Emergency Care Help Organization in Brandon, former donors are showing up as clients.

"We are seeing a new type of client, at least one family a day who used to donate to us are now coming for help," said ECHO Director Stacy Efaw. "If they're not losing their jobs, they are taking a pay cut or having their hours cut. We're extremely busy."

Most charitable organizations in the Tampa Bay area have similar woeful tales. Several have sent out more than one urgent plea for help as the holidays approach.

With fewer resources to donate this year, contributors are forced to make tighter choices in where to spend their few spare dollars.

"We want to get out there and say that even the smallest donations, at this point, can help," Efaw said.

At America's Second Harvest, an umbrella agency that acts as a distribution point for food banks all over a 10-county area, those small efforts are helping to stock the shelves, said Marc Sutherland, resource development director for the warehouse operation.

"We've got 85 small food drives going on right now," Sutherland said. "The community is trying." But Second Harvest has 350 agency partners. "And donations are moving through here as fast as we get them in," Sutherland said.

A small umbrella agency in Plant City that provides money to programs such as Meals on Wheels has seen cash donations drop by about two-thirds this year.

"We're down quite a bit, and our needs are definitely up," Director Joyce Jordan said.

Her group holds fundraisers such as barbecues and haunted houses. This year the throngs didn't show, Jordan said.

At United Way, which funds 68 groups and charities, it has been challenging, Director Diana Baker said. "We are experiencing the challenges of this economic environment."

At Trinity Café, which operates out of the Salvation Army kitchen in Tampa, donations have dropped dramatically.

"We unconditionally serve the homeless each weekday at noontime, a three-course meal with salad, soup and an entrée," said Trinity Board Member Jeff Darrey. "We get donations from individuals and corporations and an occasional grant."

Donations this month, he said, are down 50 percent from 2007.

WHO TO HELP AND HOW

America's Second Harvest, Tampa

•Purpose: Serves as a distribution point for food banks in 10-county area. Typical November brings in 650,000 pounds of food. This November there were 600,000 pounds of food.

•How to help: Participate in Food for Families, buying bagged food at Publix, Sweetbay and Winn-Dixie stores, or go to www.a2htampabay.org. By mail, send checks to 5300 E. Adamo Drive, Tampa FL 33619

Unity in the Community, Plant City

•Purpose: Contributes to Meals on Wheels, United Food Bank and Boys & Girls Club of Plant City. In 2007, Unity collected and distributed $33,000. In 2008, Unity expects to collect and distribute $22,000.

•How to help: Send cash donations to P.O. Box 524, Plant City FL 33564

Trinity Café, Tampa

•Purpose: Offers café meals, unconditionally, to homeless people who visit the Salvation Army in Tampa. In 2007, Trinity took in $32,128 in donations. In 2008 to date, it has received $8,386 in donations.

•How to help: Send donations to P.O. Box 320146, Tampa FL 33679-2146

Metropolitan Ministries, Tampa

•Purpose: Serves poor and homeless men, women and children in the Tampa Bay region. Average individual gift in 2007 was $94. Average gift in 2008 is $75.

•How to help: Send donations to 2002 N. Florida Ave., Tampa FL 33602

Emergency Care Help Organization, Brandon

•Purpose: Provides free groceries, clothes and household items to needy families once every six months, no more than four times in a lifetime. In the last quarter of 2007, ECHO served 3,911 clients. So far this quarter, ECHO has served 4,736 clients. For the Past two years, children received a bag of toys. This year, each child is getting one toy.

•How to help: Donations can be made online at www.echofl.org or mailed to 507 N. Parsons Ave., Brandon FL 33510.

St. Vincent dePaul Society, Tampa

•Purpose: Volunteers serve the needy with donations of food and clothing. In 2007, the society served about 20 families three times a week. In 2008, that number nearly has doubled to 38 families.

•How to help: Take food and clothing donations to St. Vincent DePaul Society, 12310 N. Nebraska Ave., Tampa FL 33612. Cash donations can be mailed to the same address.

United Way Tampa Bay, Tampa

•Purpose: An umbrella organization for charities that helps people overcome challenges and barriers to succeed.

•How to Help: Make a donation online at www.uwtb.org/impactfund.asp or mail a donation to United Way of Tampa Bay, Donations Team, 5201 West Kennedy Blvd., Suite 600, Tampa FL 33609.

Reporter Lenora Lake contributed to this report. Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at (813) 865-1566 or yhammett@tampatrib.com.

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