ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. — This Easter, some people may not have the means to cook a hot meal or have company to share it with. A couple of organizations came together in Pasco County on Sunday morning to help those in need celebrate the holiday.
What You Need To Know
- Volunteers with Metropolitan Ministries have been preparing all week to serve up to 100 families Easter dinner in Hillsborough and Pasco County
- The organization teamed up with Healing Hearts Café in Zephyrhills to serve a hot Easter meal of ham, potatoes, veggies and desserts
- Metropolitan Minsitries says they’re seeing more families coming to them for assistance and more people than ever living out of cars
Metropolitan Ministries and Healing Hearts Café in Zephyrhills teamed up to serve a hot meal of ham, potatoes, veggies and desserts to residents that are at-risk or already are experiencing homelessness. Volunteers prepared all week to have enough meals to serve up to 100 families.
Ethan Weilant is a former Pasco County resident of 15 years and now works with Metropolitan Ministries, managing the nonprofit’s street outreach team in Pasco. He said he felt called to spend the holiday helping his own neighbors.
“I grew up in a family that I really felt like I had everything, honestly,” he said. “I had a really easy upbringing and I got out of college and I realized I really wanted to give back to the community. And I think this is a place that does it with dignity.”
For those getting the meal, they said it gave them a sense of hope.
“We feel wanted,” said Rebecca from Pasco County. “Everybody is friendly. They’re caring and they love us.”
With inflation and rising costs, Metropolitan Ministries said they’re seeing more people turn to them for assistance. Brensey Thompson-Hurst, associate director of marketing and communications, said they’re seeing about 25 families every day who have no place to live and that more people than ever are living out of their cars.
“We hope that they know that there are people out here who care about them,” Hurst said. “So many of them coming are homeless or don’t have people to share a meal with, or may not able to cook a hot meal at home. We just hope that this small act of kindness will let them know that someone cares.”
This year, Metropolitan Ministries expanded its Easter outreach efforts by hosting a few pop-up meal distributions to help reach even more families. The organization served more than four million meals last year to people in need throughout Pasco, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, which is a 48% increase from the year before.
