TAMPA, Fla. — Brooke Haynes scanned the shelves inside Metropolitan Ministries' holiday tent in Tampa.
“It looks ten times better than what it did a few days ago, I tell you that much,” Haynes said about how her holiday meal is shaping up. "Very wonderful. I’m very grateful for this. I really am.”
Tampa Bay 28 walked and talked with Haynes as she shopped for Thanksgiving. Haynes said she’s been struggling lately, and without this help, she said her Thanksgiving would look a lot different.
"To be honest, it would be nothing,” said Haynes.
She’s not alone.
Metropolitan Ministries said more than 32,000 families have already registered for assistance and that food is desperately needed.
Now they’re calling on the community to help meet record demand this holiday season.
“The demand this year, one of the most unique things about it is how fast we filled up for Thanksgiving registration,” said Justine Burke with Metro Ministries. "We’ve never seen the slots for assistance fill up that quickly.”
In November, Metro Ministries said it's seen a 300% increase in the number of families coming to their food pantries in need of assistance.
Tampa Bay 28 asked Burke why they think the demand is so great. Burke pointed to things like costs increasing and wages not keeping up, add on top of that the uncertainty during the shutdown.
“Really going to take the community for us to be able to help everybody who comes to us,” said Burke.
Volunteers are a big part of that community.
Burke said it takes 15,000 volunteers to help them run the operation for the holiday tents.
People just like Angela Omoike.
“My first volunteer was about 15 years ago,” said Omoike.
The organization said there are a few things you can do, like volunteering your time. You can also drop off donations at any of the four holiday tent locations or partner drop off locations, or you can donate online.
“If you’ve shown kindness to one person, you may be making their whole entire holiday season,” said Omoike.
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Mary O’Connell has a primary focus on education-related stories for Tampa Bay 28. But she also keeps an eye on public health concerns and the always-changing car insurance market. Reach out to Mary to share any of your questions or concerns.
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