TAMPA, Fla. — The Macdonald Training Center is asking Tampa Bay to hold on to their beads after Gasparilla and Knight Parade festivities are over — they could help benefit people living with disabilities.
The nonprofit has been helping people living with disabilities like Peter Haladay for 70 years.
“It's helped me learn a lot through the years since I’ve been here,” Haladay said.
In Haladay's time with the nonprofit, he finished a post-secondary educational program and just wrapped up an internship in electronic recycling.
Peter is someone living with an intellectual disability. He said a common misconception he encounters is people underestimate those who have disabilities.
“They take advantage of people with disabilities," he explained.
While the Macdonald Training Center gives people like Haladay the experience and training needed for employment, these services cost money to operate.
Thomas Wood works with the nonprofit.
“We have been repurposing discarded pirate beads at Gasparilla since 2015,” he said.
He explained that collecting beads helps the city's Bead Free Bay initiative but also provides services to Tampa Bay residents living with disabilities.
Volunteers set up collection bins at places like the Bank of America Plaza. The nonprofit then sells the beads back to the pirates for next year's Gasparilla and MTC's future.
“We don't really do it to make money. We're a nonprofit; we do it to support our people,” Wood said.
The Bank of America location is no longer accepting beads, but you can drop off beads at the Florida Aquarium, Hard Rock Cafe Tampa, and Fresh Kitchen and Cali restaurants in Tampa.
MTC said they accept beads all year.