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Soup Kitchen Finds A Home

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By D'ANN LAWRENCE WHITE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 26, 2008

BRANDON - Brandon's homeless residents may be dining at the I Am Hope Cafe by the end of February.

Project HOPE, a coalition of Brandon faith and service organizations, is preparing to open its first soup kitchen in a former antiques shop on Mason Street off Parsons Avenue south of State Road 60.

"This was an ideal location to get us started," said Vince Ferraro, a Brandon accountant, Project HOPE founder and board member for the Emergency Care Help Organization and the Homeless Coalition of Hillsborough County. "We're very excited."

Project HOPE - an acronym for Helping Other People Excel - wanted to open a soup kitchen in central Brandon, where many of the community's estimated 2,000 homeless residents congregate.

Central Brandon attracts the homeless because a number of churches and nonprofit organizations offer them food and clothing. The area also is home to three day-labor employment agencies: Labor Ready at 110 E. Brandon Blvd., Right Hand Man of Brandon at 162 E. Robertson St. and Labor Finders of Tampa at 219 Cook St.

Lela Lilyquist, owner of Nature's Health Foods at 401 S. Parsons Ave., owns the Mason Street building, a former single-family home that was converted to a small business. She is redeveloping three lots she owns and offered Project HOPE the building free until development begins in a year and a half.

"She read about what we were doing and called us," Ferraro said. "She was very gracious to donate this space so we can go ahead and get started while we keep searching for a permanent spot."

Establishing a soup kitchen was Project HOPE's first priority when it formed a year ago after nonprofit groups and churches in the area began noticing an increase in the number of homeless people.

Modeling itself after the South Tampa Ecumenical Ministries, a group of South Tampa churches that operate Faith Cafe on Kennedy Boulevard in downtown Tampa, Project HOPE has incorporated as the Greater Brandon Ecumenical Ministries. The recently approved articles of incorporation established the group as a legal Florida nonprofit organization. Ferraro is applying for the group's tax-exempt status, which he expects to have within two to three weeks.

The group is working to ensure the I Am Hope Cafe meets county and state construction and building code requirements.

Ferraro said volunteers won't cook in the facility. They will purchase meals from Metropolitan Ministries on Florida Avenue in Tampa, which are packed in containers that serve 50 people. Each container costs $60, and the group estimates it will need at least four a day to serve 200 people.

"We'll bring the drinks, and some of the churches may want to supplement the meals with their own salads, breads, cookies and desserts," Ferraro said.

The group plans to provide meals from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. five days a week. Ferraro said Greater Brandon Ecumenical Ministries' goal is to offer meals six days a week.

"We're hoping to be open six days, but it all depends on the community's willingness to get involved," he said, noting that each organization participating in Project Hope must provide seven to 10 volunteers and commit three hours per volunteer.

Bay Life Church, Concerned Action InChrist, the Emergency Care Help Organization, First Presbyterian Church of Brandon and the River of Life United Methodist Cluster - made up of seven United Methodist churches - each have signed on to cover one day a week.

That doesn't preclude other people in the community from volunteering, Ferraro said. For instance, a number of people from his church, Nativity Catholic, will be participating as volunteers with ECHO.

Organizations interested in participating can call Ferraro at (813) 689-7153 or attend the next Project HOPE meeting at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce, 330 Pauls Drive, Brandon.

HOW YOU CAN HELP Any organization interested in helping at the Project HOPE soup kitchen can call Vince Ferraro at (813) 689-7153 or attend the next Project HOPE meeting at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce, 330 Pauls Drive, Brandon.

Reporter D'Ann Lawrence White can be reached at (813) 657-4524 or dlwhite@tampa trib.com.

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