By JON WILSON, Times Staff Writer
Published November 16, 2005
ST. PETERSBURG - What with holidays coming up and seasonal transients swelling the soup kitchens, it's a busy time of year for Sophie Sampson.
Talking on two phones at once is routine.
"Well, I have two ears. I've got two telephones," said the St. Vincent de Paul Society president.
Sampson is awash in typical November duty: rounding up turkeys for St. Vincent's yearly Thanksgiving feed on Nov. 24.
The society will serve dinner with the trimmings starting at 11 a.m. The meals go on until the last person is fed, or until the food runs out.
Sampson said she hopes the latter doesn't happen, but she said the society needs turkeys - 500 to 600.
Some are for the dinner at the society's food center at 401 15th St. N; others will go to the needy in other locations.
As usual, the society hopes individuals, churches, civic groups and businesses can contribute birds or cash to buy them.
Stuffing, gravy, canned fruit, yams, condensed milk and marshmallows also are welcome, Sampson said.
The Thanksgiving dinner is popular but is a small part of the society's work. An average of 20,000 free meals per month are served to the homeless and other poor people, said Richard Yentzer, who helps compile the reports the society is required to submit to the government.
The breakfast alone has increased to about 100 people a day, Sampson said. She said there has been a recent influx of veterans applying to St. Vincent, including the first one from the current Iraq war.
Most of the needy frequent downtown St. Petersburg, where a development boom continues.
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays will serve their annual pre-Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday at the food center, starting at 2 p.m.
Anyone who wants to contribute turkeys or help in other ways can call St. Vincent de Paul at (727) 823-2516.
