TAMPA, Fla. — It's the final push before Christmas, and Metropolitan Ministries needs the community to step up.
The organization still needs 10,000 toys in time for Christmas – and it's pretty specific.
- Educational toys for infants through age two
- Gifts for teenagers, especially boys ages 13-17.
Of course, all toy donations are greatly appreciated.
Constance Trojanowski has been volunteering with Metropolitan Ministries for 11 years, and for her, the effort is deeply personal. She spent her childhood in the foster system.
"Usually when you're moving from home to home or group home to group home, you don't get new things, you get used things or maybe one toy," said Trojanowski.
Food is also a major priority for families in need during the holiday season. That's why Metropolitan Ministries set up a large tent on N. Rome Avenue in Tampa, where pre-registered families can shop in the pop-up mini market for free.
Others will get a "box of hope" with all the trimmings for a holiday meal – but volunteers are still collecting and organizing donated food to meet the need.
"We're going to see 30,000 families this year. They're really our neighbors. That's who we're serving. We're serving our neighbors that are in need," said Billy Somerville with Metropolitan Ministries.
Here's what they need the most right now:
- Hams
- yams
- cereal
- canned vegetables and fruit
- potatoes
- rice
- beans.
The organization makes it really easy to donate. You can drop items off at these locations:
- New Tampa: 2609 N. Rome Ave., Tampa, FL 33607 (8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.)
- Main Pasco: 3214 US Highway 19 North Holiday, FL 34691 (8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.)
- For a full list of drop-off locations, click here.
- Tents close at 3:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve.
You can donate online too. Just put 2609 N. Rome Ave., Tampa, FL 33607 as the shipping address on your favorite online shopping site and your toys will make it to to the tent.
Metro Ministries accepts monetary donations at metromin.org.
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