Giving to organizations that offer goods and services to the area’s poor and homeless is vitally important, especially during a holiday season when the population of unemployed Floridians exceeds the national average. Several local nonprofits are in desperate need of aid. Metropolitan Ministries – which feeds 100-150 families per day through the year – seeks nonperishable food items (canned meats and fruits, cereal, stuffing), toys and stocking stuffers for children and teens, and personal hygiene items; cash donations are also appreciated. Pinellas County’s largest distributor of food to the poor, Religious Community Services (RCS), needs food donations for its pantry as well as gently used clothing, furniture, household goods and cash gifts for its homeless family shelter, domestic violence haven and thrift store. ASAP Homeless Services provides housing and basic necessities to the homeless via its Drop-In-Center and Emergency Shelter; donations of combs, toothbrushes, towels, soap, shampoo, feminine products, t-shirts, men’s briefs and socks, clothing, food, and household goods are welcome. And finally, there’s the indomitable St. Pete Free Clinic, which supplies the “working poor” with basic needs – food, shelter, medical care, financial assistance and referral info – via its five free programs: Beacon House, Food Bank, Health Center, We Help Services and the Women's Residence.
This article appears in Dec 3-9, 2008.