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Ministries Treat Needy On Thanksgiving

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By D'ANN LAWRENCE WHITE dlwhite@tampatrib.com

The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 26, 2008

BRANDON - He had that look that prompts people to roll up their car windows for fear of their safety when they see him walking down the street.

At 6 feet, 7 inches tall, weighing 280 pounds, hair unwashed and untamed and wearing clothes that hadn't seen a washing machine in weeks, Jeff Luddeke had that crazed look in his eyes that labeled him a crack addict.

"He was one scary guy," said Kristin Taylor of Riverview, recalling her first meeting with Luddeke in 1997.

Taylor, the founder of Thankfully Helping Others' Real Needs Ministries, called THORN, was with her team of volunteers feeding the homeless on the streets of Tampa when Luddeke approached the tables heaped with casseroles.

"Anybody would have been intimidated," Luddeke conceded. "I was big and bad."

Taylor said she swallowed her fears and put her trust in God. Instead of stepping back, she stepped forward and began talking to him.

"He was very articulate," she said. "I discovered he'd been an Army Ranger during the Persian Gulf War and was battling a crack addiction. We became good friends. He's one of the neatest people I've ever met."

Luddeke said Taylor and others willing to take a chance on him helped him turn his life around.

"I began helping rather than hurting and victimizing people," said Luddeke, who spent three years on the streets before kicking his drug addiction and getting back on his feet.

With Taylor's encouragement, Luddeke became an advocate for veterans and is executive director for the nonprofit Liberty Manor for Veterans Inc., which operates three facilities for homeless veterans in Tampa and Largo.

"I'm living proof that there's hope," he said. "All the homeless need is a hand up."

That's a philosophy Taylor and Cynthia Pinckney of Seffner share.

"People have a misperception about who's out there on the streets," Taylor said. "These are people who require love and compassion to overcome problems in their lives."

Taylor started THORN on Thanksgiving Day 1997, when she, her children and a friend cooked 80 dinners and took them to the homeless they'd seen living behind buildings and beneath underpasses in downtown Tampa. The ministry quickly grew. THORN volunteers now feed 1,500 to 2,000 homeless people every week.

"I'm humbled by how large it's gotten," she said. "It's a big thing with almost no budget. The only consistent donation I receive is $120 a month from my brother. The rest is just donations here and there, but we always seem to have enough."

Pinckney was among the volunteers who assisted Taylor in the early days of her ministry. Taylor said it was evident that Pinckney had a passion for the homeless.

"This is a natural part of her spirituality," said Taylor, who has watched Pinckney's own ministry for the homeless, Cynthia Pinckney Ministries Inc., blossom in the Seffner area. In 2001, Pinckney began targeting a population of homeless she felt was not receiving adequate attention.

Now, as Thanksgiving approaches and most residents are preparing for family get-togethers, the two women are planning to feed hundreds of strangers.

For the fifth year, Pinckney and her band of volunteers will host a Community Thanksgiving Dinner for the Homeless, Hungry, Needy and Displaced in Brandon.

This year's dinner will take place from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Thursday at the Bill Carey Unit of the Boys & Girls Club, 213 N. Knights Ave., Brandon.

More than 300 volunteers have been trained during monthly classes during the past seven months to serve about 900 homeless and hungry residents expected to show up for the dinner.

"It's difficult to tell just how many people we'll have. Every year it gets larger," Pinckney said. "Because of the economy, there are more people in need than ever before. We've even had some volunteers lose their jobs, and now they can't afford to buy a Thanksgiving dinner. This is a very rough time."

This is the first year Pinckney has hosted training for volunteers, and she said the sessions went well.

"The volunteers are better equipped this year. Hopefully, it will help things run a lot more smoothly," she said.

As she did last year, Kaye Marshall of Catering by the Family in Tampa has volunteered to cook most of the food for this year's feast, although Pinckney always lets her husband, Leroy, "fry a few turkeys."

Pinckney is still seeking donations of hams and roasted chickens. Anyone who can help can contact her at (813) 571-1556.

The Greater Brandon Ecumenical Ministries Association, which operates the I Am Hope Cafe soup kitchen at First Baptist Church of Mango, is supporting Pinckney's Thanksgiving dinner this year, said board President Vince Ferraro.

"Cynthia does such a great job, we don't see any need to duplicate what she's already doing it," he said. "So we will be providing transportation for the homeless from the I Am Hope Cafe to the Boys & Girls Club." First Baptist is at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and County Road 579.

In the meantime, Taylor has charged a 20-year-old St. Leo College junior with the mammoth task of organizing the caravan that will take Thanksgiving dinner to more than 700 people living on the streets of Tampa.

Sarah Shirina, a Bloomingdale High School graduate, said she and her family joined Taylor on Christmas Day four years ago to help feed Tampa's homeless. From that first encounter with the ministry, Shirina said she was hooked.

"I loved it," she said. "It was so rewarding. It made me realize how blessed I am."

She began joining THORN monthly, then weekly. Now she serves as the Dade City coordinator for the ministry and plans to major in social work in the hopes of helping the street people she's come to know.

For Thanksgiving Day, Shirina has assembled an army of 80 volunteers who will meet at St. Stephen Catholic Church in Valrico, load their cars and vans with turkeys and casseroles, then head to three homeless gathering places in Tampa.

"It's going to be quite a production," Shirina said. "We've got 28 turkeys."

Shirina said she can use more donations of hot casseroles, stuffing, breads and desserts. Anyone interested in contributing can drop off items at St. Stephen Catholic Church, 5049 Bell Shoals Road, Valrico, before noon Thursday.

Taylor said the group also will distribute blankets, underwear, socks, backpacks, toiletries, coats and other cold-weather gear. Items can be dropped off at Taylor's home, 10414 Deepbrook Drive, Riverview, in Boyette Springs.

While gestures of generosity are highlighted during the holidays, Shirina said she was inspired by Taylor's desire to help the down-and-out throughout the year.

"Kristin told us Mother Theresa always did the little things that no one else wanted to do, and that's what we should do," Shirina said. "That really hit home with me."

But Taylor said there is nothing little about the homelessness crisis in Tampa Bay.

"When you have more than 15,000 people wandering around with no place to live and no one's addressing that problem, how can this community flourish?" she asked.

HOLIDAY MEAL FOR HOMELESS

This year's Community Thanksgiving Dinner for the Homeless, Hungry, Needy and Displaced in Brandon will be from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Thursday at the Bill Carey Unit of the Boys & Girls Club, 213 N. Knights Ave., Brandon.

If you want to donate food, call Cynthia Pinckney at (813) 571-1556.

D'Ann Lawrence White can be reached at (813) 657-4524.

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