Chevy Mission Drive

April 13, 2012 8:59 am CT

Chevy recently partnered with Hyde Park United Methodist Church (HPUMC) and Metropolitan Ministries for a mission drive designed to educate volunteers about homelessness and how the Manna Ministry at HPUMC is helping to feed and bring hope to men, women and children in our community.

Twenty four volunteers from the Church and the University of Tampa’s Car Club, DRIVE met at Metropolitan Ministries for dinner and a presentation. Metropolitan Ministries even created a way to turn dinner into an opportunity to help our community by ordering from Metropolitan their new catering service, Inside the Box. Every meal purchased through Inside the Box provides a meal for a person in need.

During dinner, Mandy Cloninger, Director of Advancement at Metropolitan Ministries gave a presentation about what her organization, in partnership with the Church, is doing to overcome homelessness in the Tampa Bay area. We learned that in 2011, Metropolitan Ministries provided more than 1,200 emergency shelter nights for families, housing for more than 60 families and housing solutions for another 120 families!

After learning about the state of homelessness in our community, our volunteers decided it was time to take action! We loaded 200 Manna Bags into two Chevy Volts, a Sonic, a Suburban, a Cruze and a GMC Terrain and took them to a local shelter that was serving dinner to 75 homeless men, women and children. Manna Bags are Zip-loc bags filled with Scripture, community resource information, healthy snacks, sunscreen and a pair of socks. These bags are designed to show impoverished individuals in the community the love of Christ and provide a sense of hope from within their own community.

We caravanned to the Family of Christ Lutheran Church where we handed out 100 Manna Bags, served dinner, gave away donated clothing and talked with a number of homeless men and women about what life is like living on the streets.  Most of the homeless men we spoke with were Veterans. They shared with us that although things were not going well, they were thankful – thankful to be alive, thankful for the church, thankful for the volunteers that serve them dinner, and thankful that people still care about them.

We ended our evening back at Metropolitan Ministries where Chevrolet presented a $100 check to both Hyde Park United Methodist Church and the Family of Christ Lutheran Church in appreciation of their commitment to our community and all they do to help those in need. Chevy sent each volunteer home with a five Manna Bags to keep driving the mission forward!

For more information on the next Chevy Mission Drive, contact Emily Chinowth at echinowth@tuckerhall.com.