How Your Family Can Give the Gift of HOPE at the Metropolitan Ministries Holiday Tent
If you haven’t had the chance to drop off holiday donations or volunteer your time at the Metropolitain Ministries Holiday Tent in Tampa, this is the year to do it so you can see the magic of what happens when a community comes together to support one another for yourself.
What started in a small room in 1982 has grown to a tent the size of a football field that will assist more than 33,000 families this year, including 60,000 children. That’s an additional 3,000 families due to back-to-back hurricanes; some of those families have never had to ask for help before.
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HOW YOUR FAMILY CAN HELP
You can support the Holiday Tent in many ways, whether you give the gift of your time, donations and/or make a financial contribution.
This is a time of year when many families ask how they can volunteer together with the kids, and this is a perfect opportunity. Kids as young as 8 can volunteer with their parents in many volunteer roles in the holiday tents, including sorting food and toy donations, stocking shelves, and building food boxes for families. It’s truly a unique way for your family to not only volunteer together but witness the true impact of your gift of time.
If your kids are still too young, consider taking them shopping to pick up some of the most needed food items and gifts for kids like them. Make sure to bring your kids with you when you drop off the donations at the Holiday Tent so they can see the power of community at work.
IMPACT: YOUR TIME MATTERS
Each year, 15,000 volunteers serve in the Holiday Tents and 10 other pop-up sites, giving over 150,000 hours of their time. That’s the equivalent of $4.5 million in labor costs. Your time absolutely matters.
Your donations matter, too. Each year, the Holiday Tent and its pop-up locations distribute more than one million pounds of food and 60,000+ toys/gift cards to local families.
The Most Needed Items at the Holiday Tent:
- frozen turkeys and hams
- canned yams
- stuffing
- canned vegetables
- boxed potatoes
- cranberry sauce
- gravy
- cereal
- rice
- beans
- macaroni and cheese
- dessert mixes
- gift cards
- toys/gifts for children ages 4-17
You can also shop the virtual store: www.metromin.org/holiday-central or make a monetary donation, which is being matched this year by a generous donor for double the impact.
Metropolitan Ministries Holiday Tent Locations:
There are three Holiday Tent locations in the Tampa Bay area, including the main hub on Rome Avenue in Tampa. You can drop-off donations at the tents and volunteer your time at each location.
Metropolitan Ministries Holiday Tent Main Hub-Hillsborough
2609 N. Rome Ave.
Tampa, FL 33607
Metropolitan Ministries Holiday Tent-West Pasco
Generations Christian Church
1540 Little Road
Trinity, FL 34655
Metropolitan Ministries on the Significance of HOPE:
“This little word plays a big role in our lives. We hear it from our clients time and again—”You gave me hope to go on another day.” Hope can be the difference between giving up and holding on. Hope can be the thing that keeps us going. Hope can be the feeling that helps us believe and work for a better life. HOPE reminds us that this season of pain isn’t forever.
It’s not about the food, or the toy, or any other commodity. It’s the comfort in knowing that somebody cares for and believes in you. And that is what Metropolitan Ministries is all about.”
Learn more about donating, volunteering, and even how to get help if you need it by visiting www.metromin.org or calling 813-209-1000.
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