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Holiday spirit burns bright in Pinellas
By SUZETTE PORTER
Article published on Friday, Dec. 21, 2007 |
PINELLAS COUNTY – Christmas will be a little brighter around Pinellas this season – thanks to some help from generous individuals and organizations.
Toys for Tots, Salvation Army, police departments from various cities, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, Pinellas County employees and countless organizations pulled together again this year to give Santa a hand to make sure the holidays would be special for those in need.
Several businesses organized food drives, including Insurance Resources in St. Petersburg and Cooters Raw Bar and Restaurant in Clearwater Beach. The GFWC Seminole Junior Woman’s Club sponsored Project Need, which provides holiday food baskets to local children and families. Employees of Pinellas County’s Culture, Education and Leisure department donated food as part of its annual holiday drive.
The Suncoast Haven of Rest Rescue Mission in Pinellas Park will feed and entertain people in need on Christmas Day from 1 p.m. or until the food runs out. Volunteers are needed to serve food and to bring in pre-cooked items. The mission is located at 5625 Park Blvd. Call 398-1521 for more information.
For some having a full stomach on Christmas Day might be enough to fill blessed, but let’s face it, Christmas is for the kids.
Pinellas County understands it’s important that every good boy and girl get a least a little something special for Christmas, which explains the number of toy drives and other events organized to lend Santa a helping hand.
Thousands of toys were collected a locations throughout northern parts of the county by Toys for Tots. In the south part of the county, Salvation Army, through its Angel Tree program, did its best to provide for the 900 families who signed up for assistance this year.
Police departments in Largo and Pinellas Park collected donations and took children on a holiday shopping spree for toys, clothes or whatever the children had on their list.
Tarpon Springs police go through letters to Santa from local children and do their best to meet their requests through donations of toys and cash. The highlight is a visit from Santa, who passes out the gifts just before Christmas.
Everyone who participated in this year’s “Ride & Run With The Stars” sponsored by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office did their part to help brighten Christmas for local children in need.
In its 15th year, and touted as the largest law enforcement initiated Christmas Charity event in Tampa Bay, hundreds of children received presents this year, including 97 bicycles donated by Kevin and Debbie Bechtel and their children Jake and Baylie. The employees at Bechtels of Life Brokerage Partners in Oldsmar donated their time to assemble and put bows on the bikes.
Another 135 children will be mobile this year, thanks to a record collection by Pinellas County employees. For the past 21 years, the bicycle drive has been a team project by employees who donate money throughout the year to purchase bikes for children of all ages.
County social workers distributed the bikes to eligible families, all of whom have received benefits from the county’s Health and Human Services department during the past year. Morton Plant Morton Plant Hospital donated a helmet to go with each bike, and by Facilities Management provided bicycle locks.
County employees also donated items, such as personal products, household goods and linens, which were on the wish lists of eligible clients of the county’s Health and Human Services department.
Senior Citizens aren’t forgotten in the hustle and bustle of the season. It’s a sad fact that many of the elderly live alone or in homes where they receive few visitors. Many don’t have family to make sure their holidays are bright.
Largo Rehabilitation Center in Seminole sponsored its annual adopt-a-resident program and asked for donations of socks, slippers, sweaters, sweatshirts, lap blankets, stationary, books, magazines, DVDs, CDs and small radios.
When Santa stopped in to visit the kids in Tarpon Springs, he also made a special trip to visit developmentally disabled adults and needy elderly residents.
The Salvation Army in St. Petersburg includes the names of senior citizens on its list of potential adoptees in need of Christmas assistance.
Santa's Angels, an annual holiday gift purchasing, wrapping and delivery program operated by Divine Charities Inc. of Madeira Beach, works with the Salvation Army and Pinellas County’s Juvenile Services to identify families in need who, “without outside assistance, would, likely, not enjoy a traditional holiday season with gifts, a major meal and holiday decorations.”
This list of people and groups who gave their time and money to assist others is just an example of the many charitable good deeds happening this year.
The need is great, so it’s good to know that the spirit of the holidays burns bright in Pinellas County.
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Article published on Friday, Dec. 21, 2007
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