TAMPA, Fla. — Dozens of volunteers on Thursday at Metropolitan Ministries in Tampa helped cook and package up more than 10,000 Thanksgiving meals for people in need across the bay area.
The staff prepped 2,750 pounds of turkey, 1,800 pounds of mashed potatoes, 1,600 pounds of vegetables, 100 gallons of gravy, 800 pounds of stuffing and 560 pies/desserts, for families in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties.
Metropolitan Ministries says the real power of a warm Thanksgiving meal is to help inspire hope for as many people as possible.
The nonprofit will also offer two places where folks can sit down and enjoy a meal next to some company or just pick one up to go:
11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Hillsborough County
The Portico Café
(in partnership with Metro)
1001 N. Florida Ave, Tampa
Pasco County
Healing Hearts Café
(in partnership with Metro)
6436 12th Street, Zephyrhills
The 10,000 meals were provided by community donations and there are ways you can still help during the holiday season. To learn more and to donate, visit https://www.metromin.org/.
With food prices soaring right now, it's no surprise that the need for meals during the holiday season is expected to be greater than ever. In 2021, Metropolitan Ministries served more than 4 million meals. That was up nearly 50% from 2020. So if history is any indication, they will need more this year.
There are several holiday donation tents set up in Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties to make it easy for people to drop off their donations. And volunteers at these locations are also needed, so there are more opportunities to give back your time and/or money. You can find more information here.