ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Fall is among us, which means great weather and more people out and about.
That's what gave Matt Shapiro an idea. Shapiro is the General Manager of SHAPIRO’S Gallery.
"Towards the end of summer, I kind of talked to the various businesses and said, 'let's do some sort of block party to celebrate the end of summer, beginning of fall, cooler weather,'" he said.
Then Hurricane Helene hit.
"We kind of transitioned a little bit to let's start supporting the community. Then Hurricane Milton came," he said.
Two hurricanes and unprecedented devastation for St. Pete made him even more excited about the block party.
Michelle Richards, the General Manager of Allelo, helped make Shapiro's idea come to life.
"With everything going on, we have to. The St. Pete community is everything to us. So, we need to give back and we were extremely fortunate in both storms and we are grateful and thankful for that, to be honest, and we need to be there for the community for that reason," she said.
Six businesses joined in: Allelo Mediterranean Restaurant, SHAPIRO’S Gallery, Parkshore Grill, Paciugo Gelato & Caffe, Style Clothing and EnnYe African Boutique.
The money goes to the following three organizations:
- Feeding Tampa Bay, an organization that provides meals to neighbors in need
- We Are St. Pete Fund, a fund created by the city of St. Petersburg and the Pinellas Community Foundation to help Hurricane Helene victims
- Southern Smoke Foundation, an organization that helps hospitality workers dealing with a crisis
"I don't think I've received a text message fast enough to be honest, like, 'Oh my gosh, yes, we want to be involved.' So it was really important for us to make sure that the funds from this event stay here in St. Pete," Richards recalled.
Southern Smoke Foundation has funded 29 individuals for a total of $42,600 and is still reviewing the rest of the 65 applications. They have received 3,500 applications for Helene and Milton, and reviewing anywhere from 60 to 100 cases per week.
By October 31st, We Are St. Pete had received $832,141.57 in donations from the community.
Feeding Tampa Bay has helped with 2,094,511 meals at 132 emergency distributions in our most affected areas, in addition to our daily efforts, for a total of 4,566,555.
Florida unlicensed contractor faces a bond normally reserved for murderers and violent criminals.
