Interfaith hunger program to hold second workshop

By JULIANNE WU

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 29, 2001

LARGO -- Dan McNally has had about 20 new volunteers sign up for Tampa Bay Harvest since October's organizational meeting of the interfaith Congregational Hunger Action Training, or CHAT, program.

Now, about 1,000 volunteers help the Harvest organization he heads.

"We have had lots of positive feedback" since the meeting, said McNally, executive director of the non-profit food gleaning organization founded in 1989 in Clearwater.

A second meeting of the fledgling CHAT organization, which includes efforts on both sides of Tampa Bay, will be Tuesday at St. Paul United Methodist Church in Largo. It is open to anyone who wants to help fight hunger in the area.

Tampa Bay Harvest is one of 15 organizations that belong to CHAT so far. It has no office and no warehouse, yet each week, McNally and the volunteers pick up food from about 350 donors around Pinellas County and then distribute it to dozens of area shelters and soup kitchens. Donors include restaurants, fast food establishments, churches, hospitals, schools, hotels and caterers.

Although figures aren't complete for 2000, McNally said that in 1999, Tampa Bay Harvest collected more than 4.5-million pounds of food.

"We work seven days a week," said McNally, who coordinates the organization's activities out of his Clearwater home. "For instance, we go to 52 Publix stores in our area."

Tampa Bay Harvest will be one of five topics at Tuesday's meeting, said Warren Clark, interim pastor at First United Church of Tampa, CHAT organizer and founding director of SHARE Tampa Bay. SHARE, which stands for Self Help and Resource Exchange, will be another topic of discussion. It is a volunteer cooperative in which members sign up, pay a fee, buy food in bulk and share in the food collected.

Other projects to be discussed include Divine Providence, a Tampa food bank that serves the west central region of Florida; Operation Blessing, a new local program patterned after one started by evangelist Pat Robertson; and a project in which people go into the fields and pick fruits and vegetables.

Clark said the five were the top-ranking subjects in a survey taken at the CHAT meeting in October.

"On Tuesday, we will have roundtable brainstorming sessions," said Clark, "and people will tell what they did and how they did it."

Through CHAT, Clark wants to bring together churches, food-sharing organizations and individuals to form a more permanent kind of help for the hungry in the area.

"Most religious communities do a great job on emergency relief for members of their congregations," said Clark. "But it's usually on a temporary basis."

Besides providing the meal and the meeting room for Tuesday's gathering, St. Paul United Methodist Church is also a very active member of CHAT.

Since 1998, congregation members have provided a meal and church service weekly for Everybody's Tabernacle and the Clearwater Homeless Intervention Program.

Workshop information

A workshop of Congregational Hunger Action Training, a Tampa Bay area interfaith organization, will be from 5:30 to 8:45 p.m. Tuesday at St. Paul United Methodist Church, 1199 Highland Ave., Largo. It's open to the public. The $6 fee includes a catered dinner and small breakout sessions. Respond by Monday by calling 821-0666.

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