How does this all work at giving hope?
Giving Hope served over 96,000 meals to unhoused and food insecure people in 2025. This number has been steadily rising since its humble beginnings as a church ministry, when in 2010, we served approximately 5000 meals, to now, a full functioning 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation.
Each meal distributed contains items such as a breakfast sandwich, a lunch sandwich or protein item, chips, cookies, a pastry item and a drink. Much of the food that is used in these meals, is donated by partner agencies, such as grocery stores, restaurants and convenience stores. Volunteers pick-up and deliver this donated food to Giving Hope where we separate it into categories, prepare meal bags and distribute these bags to food insecure individuals or homeless individuals. Over 16,000 volunteer hours have been recorded for 2025.
Along with these meals, some of the other items distributed by Giving Hope include toiletries, clothing, tents, blankets and pet food, when available. While the services provided by Giving Hope does not solve food insecurity or homelessness, our volunteers always give a sympathetic ear and prayers to help our friends find a way to improve their current living situation.
Even though much of the food is donated, Giving Hope also incurs additional costs to pay for beverages, the optional items listed above and our expenses for rent, utilities, gas and supplies.
HISTORY OF GIVING HOPE
Giving Hope’s founders initially began in 2010 as a church ministry within Palm Harbor United Methodist church working with St Vincent de Paul serving hot meals to the homeless. A couple of years later, in 2012, the Palm Harbor United Methodist Church partnered with Metropolitan Ministries to serve a sit-down dinner on the Metropolitan Ministries campus in Holiday, Florida. Limited clothing and a small food pantry was also available. Over the next few years, the location of these sit-down meals changed but there was a comradery being built between volunteers and our friends. With the onset of the COVID pandemic in 2020, it became necessary to change the way we helped our friends. Meal bags were now handed out but the need was growing. In February 2022, because of this growth, the services being provided as a church ministry now became Giving Hope, a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt corporation.
In 2021, over 30,700 meals were distributed. Four years later, in 2025 Giving Hope distributed over 96,000 meal bags consisting of a breakfast sandwich, a lunch sandwich or protein item, chips, cookies, a pastry item and a drink. None of this could have been achieved without the leadership of some key people, a growing number of volunteers and an ever-increasing network of partners and donors.
