BRANDON, Fla. — With Thanksgiving less than a week away, many families in the Bay Area are struggling financially. So, an organization called Boricuas de Corazon is doing its part to ensure families have the groceries needed to make the perfect holiday dinner.
Linda Perez is a busy woman. She’s the founder of a local non-profit organization called Boricuas de Corazon. “Boricua de Corazon is an entity that does disaster relief the entire year. Anything that happens with fire, natural disaster – and we assist in the community with a lot of different supplies by the government or by entities that support us throughout the year,” said Linda Perez.
They opened an office in Brandon in 2018. Today, they handle 28 events a year. They donate anything from book bags at the beginning of the school year to baby formula for new mothers. “Right now, we are assisting more than 145,000 families per year,” said Perez.
Perez was inspired to start this organization after a natural disaster in Puerto Rico.
“We went through Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. It was so devastating. So, we said we need to do more. So, we have a chapter in Puerto Rico, and we have one here, and we continue feeding the families that are in need now more than ever because the situation is terrible. Economically, you know, sky-high prices. So, that’s why we need to continue helping our people,” said Perez.
The need is great, as demonstrated by a long line of cars with people waiting patiently to receive groceries for the Thanksgiving holiday.
“Today, 300. We’re doing 300 turkeys and the food as well. 300 is the number,” said Perez as the staff worked diligently to ensure everybody received something for their kitchens. “We are providing a lot of essentials and a lot of stuff. We are having the turkey dinner today – bringing on a lot of stuff for them for turkey as well and some supplies because people need supplies in case another hurricane hits,” said Perez.
Pia Ceccarelli Rosenberg is thankful because she received 10 turkeys for her organization.
“I’ll be cooking for a nice Christmas celebration for women that were victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation,” said Ceccarelli Rosenberg with the Ceccarelli Rosenberg Foundation.
A South Tampa man turned to Susan Solves It after he said ADT told him he had to keep paying for a security system at his Hurricane Helene-damaged home, even though the system was so new that he never had a day of service.
