ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Hundreds of cars line the street at 22nd Street South in St. Petersburg. They’re waiting for Positive Impact Ministries' Saturday food distribution.
“Look at this. Every Saturday, we have 700 or more families in need in line for our food distribution,” said Karen Rae, executive director of Positive Impact Ministries.
"I always say Saturdays are heart-wrenching, but at the same time heartwarming,” Rae said. “It's heart-wrenching to see how great the need is. But it's heartwarming to be out here working to meet that need."
Rae’s mother, Pastor Karalynne Brubaker, founded Positive Impact 20 years ago.
"I found that one in five children in this area go to bed hungry. That’s not okay,” she said.
“My mother was an orphan child. She was raised by her grandparents. They were extremely poor,” she said. “She taught us to have compassion for the children. Children don't get to make their own decisions. Adults do."
They started doing their food distributions at their church and moved to Tangerine Plaza in 2020. She said they moved because they needed to be closer to the area with the most needs.
The area is considered a food desert. Brubaker and Rae are hoping to change that soon.
"We have a dream of opening a no-cost market right here at Tangerine Plaza,” said Rae.
They’re hoping to use the space where Walmart’s neighborhood market used to be. They closed seven years ago. They need volunteers and financial partners in order to turn their dreams into reality.
“It will [work out],” said Brubaker. “God put us in the right position at the right time to do the right thing.”
If you would like to volunteer or partner with Positive Impact, click here.
