TAMPA, Fla. (WFTS) — We're just days away from Thanksgiving, yet so many families are still wondering where the groceries for their meal will come from.
Metropolitan Ministries has been a go-to for years for families in need of help.
At their holiday tent, the holiday ingredients are available for the community.
With each pallet of turkeys, dozens of Tampa family's Thanksgiving meals are complete.
It's why Tom Bell is so excited to see those turkeys dropped off. About 10 years ago, he and his friend Chase started donating turkeys during the holiday season.
"Me and my buddy Chase, we just did it ourselves. We would fill our trunk with turkeys and toys every single year, and we'd come and donate it," Bell recalled. "It was his idea. You know, he was the one that brought it to me. We were making some money at the time, and we're like, we should give back."
After about six years, more friends joined them.
"I just posted about it one time, and I was like, 'Hey, this is what we do every single year. If you guys want to get involved, here's my Venmo.' That started a whole chain of you know; first year was $1000 and then $3000, $5000, it just continued to grow every single year," he added.
Now, those donations mean something much more to Bell.
"My buddy Chase ended up dying last year. So that's when we created Charity Chase, Inc. That was his name. I'm Turkey Tom, he was Charity Chase."
In Chase's memory, they dropped off $50,000 worth of turkeys at Metropolitan Ministries holiday food tent.
"This is the time. We got hit by two hurricanes. People are in need. And, you know, people came through," Bell said.
The Thanksgiving spread from the turkey down to the cranberry sauce isn't a guarantee for so many families in the Tampa Bay area right now.
Metropolitan Ministries says that while donations are down 23% compared to last Thanksgiving, the number of families coming to them for assistance is up by 20%.
Related: Metropolitan Ministries sees 23% drop in number of donations ahead of Thanksgiving
They have more than 1,800 families left to provide for before Thanksgiving.
"Metro's heartbeat is to provide that hope and to be there when the community needs us," said Brensey Thompson, Director of Marketing & Communications for Metropolitan Ministries.
As cars roll up to donate, others roll up to pick up food at the pop-up tent.
"I think most people are just excited that they're able to donate this year. And we are hearing those stories of, 'Hey, look, I'm still in need myself, but I want to still give back to the community'. And so they're coming down, and they're giving what they can to help those in need," Thompson said.
With the help of generous donations from the community, 15,000 food boxes and 15,000 turkeys (or hams) will be distributed through Metropolitan Ministries' holiday tents and pop-up locations by Thanksgiving Day, equating to more than 600,000 individual meals for people in need this Thanksgiving.
A generous donor will match all monetary donations, doubling the impact of your gift and helping twice as many families.
"Chase would be blown away by this," Bell said.
The widow of a Pinellas Park firefighter turned to Susan Solves It after she was cut off from the savings her husband left behind for her.
