July Update
Friends,
Saturday, July 2 marked 119 continuous weekly bagged breakfasts that Celebrate Outreach and our supporters have served since our first breakfast on March 21, 2020 at the beginning of the COVID pandemic. Since then, the breakfast has grown:
• On our first Saturday on March 21, 2020 we served 56 bagged breakfasts from the door at Praise the Lord Outreach Ministries, 900 MLK Street South, St. Petersburg FL 33705
• On July 2 of this year we served 158 breakfasts.• In June we averaged 150 breakfasts each week.
The privilege of filling hungry stomachs every Saturday morning for over two years is only possible because of our wide, generous network of supporters. This month we provide updates on some of the groups who support the breakfast, along with our thanks.
As you will see below, there are all sorts of ways to support the breakfast, both onsite and offsite. We serve from Praise the Lord Outreach Ministries, 900 MLK Street South, St. Petersburg FL 33705. Volunteers arrive at 7:30 AM and we finish serving by 9:30. If you or your group would like to join our work, call, text or email Debbie Canning at (727) 612-9676 or canningd58@yahoo.com or John Stewart at (727) 492-1590 or sjstew@gte.net.
For more recent updates on what we are doing, go to the Celebrate Outreach Facebook page.
THANKS TO THE SECOND SATURDAY CREWS!
The second Saturday of each month is a big day for breakfast volunteers and for the people we serve:
• The Parking Lot Gang (L), a ministry of Saint Teresa of Calcutta Catholic Community in St. Petersburg, sets up their Pop-up Pantry to distribute clothing, hygiene items, non-perishable food, books, other items, and good cheer.
• Paradise Lutheran Church (R) on Treasure Island brings 100 bagged lunches, which include a sandwich, hard-boiled egg, fruit, trail mix, salty snack, condiments, dessert, and more.
• St. Alban’s Episcopal Church from St. Pete Beach regularly cooks, delivers, and helps serve breakfast. (Pictured here in a USF cap is also Dr. John Paul, who founded Celebrate Outreach in 2008.)
• Once a month St. Mary & St. Mina Coptic Orthodox Church in Clearwater cooks a full meal offsite, delivers it to Praise the Lord, and helps box and serve the meal. They have been doing this since they served a full turkey dinner the Saturday before Thanksgiving last year. Church members of all ages join us to serve.
• St. Petersburg Junior Woman’s Club members make homemade sandwiches to include in the breakfasts (L), and then members volunteer to pack and distribute goods for CO (R). In addition, they collect supplies to be distributed to the community.
• We are pleased to partner with Good Neighbors, a nonprofit dedicated to ending waste and hunger. Donations from area restaurants and grocery stores
are picked up weekly by volunteers Kasey Schmidt and Linda Morgenstein (above). This enables us to add a bounty of desserts, breads and sandwiches to each meal.
As a Valentine’s Day treat, Paradise Lutheran Church made individual baggies of toiletries to distribute, as seen in this photo of bags of the baggies. They were an enormous hit with the people we serve.
Toiletries and clothing are ongoing needs. Please consider gathering these for the breakfast. A list of suggestions is below. Contact us to arrange for drop-off or pick-up.
The next e-mail newsletter will be a back-to-school special, looking at some of the ways young people support our work. We will also look at some individuals who volunteer.
Thanks for your ongoing support of the breakfast, and thanks for reading our update of some of the groups who support our work. Visit our Celebrate Outreach Facebook page for updates and more images of our work.Debbie Bussinger Canning
(727) 612-9676 or canningd58@yahoo.com
John Stewart(727) 492-1590 or sjstew@gte.net
FOOD, CLOTHING AND TOILETRIES NEEDS
Food Items
fruit cups, bananas, orangesbeef sticks, canned meat pop tops (tuna, Vienna sausages),yogurt cups, lunch meat, sliced cheese, cheese stickspacks of any variety of cheese or peanut butter crackers, snack-sized bags of chipsbottled water, Gatorade, soda
Toiletries
toothbrushes, toothpaste
disposable razors, shaving cream
bar soap, wash cloths
deodorant
feminine hygiene items
travel size creams, shampoo, and body wash
individual packets of Kleenex, hand wipes
Clothes
men’s/women’s socks (this is a constant need)
gently used clothes
men’s and women’s tennis shoes
men’s underwear S/M/L
women’s underwear S/M/L/XL
PLEASE NOTE: **We do not accept children’s clothes**
THANKS TO PARADISE LUTHERAN FOR A VALENTINE’S DAY TREAT; AND OUR ONGOING NEEDS
THANKS TO OUR OFFSITE COOKS AND PROVIDERS, AND TO OUR ONSITE SERVERS!