Blessings Bags And How To Help The Trinity Cafe

This happens every day. I come up to an intersection and there is most likely someone holding a small cardboard sign, asking for help. What do you think most drivers reactions are? Looking down, not making eye contact, or do you roll down your window and at least give them a smile or a word of encouragement? Some go further than that with what they call “Blessings Bags” that have some of the daily essentials like soap, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and more.

Those Blessings Bags are now in many volunteers cars, handed out every day from people like Michael and Kathleen Kilgore. They’re both well known in Tampa Bay; Michael for his work with the Columbia Restaurant Group, and Kathleen as the former Director of Planning and Strategy | TBO.com/The Tampa Tribune but known to me as someone with an incredibly artistic eye. But both have big hearts and brought the Blessings Bags idea to my attention, and we’d like your help.

One of the items the have become very meaningful are notes of encouragement that are tucked into each bag. I love getting notes from family and friends, either online or maybe it’s a card in the mail. But it means someone cares. So we’re asking you to write a little note to someone you don’t even know to let them know they are loved and appreciated. Maybe it’s favorite saying or poem, or just a few words that this person will carry with them. Send those directly to kstollekilgore@gmail.com and they will be printed out and placed in each bag.

You can also help with collecting personal care items for each bag as you see in the picture. I find a lot of those nice travel-sized goodies in hotel rooms are the perfect size. Or just grab a few extra items when you’re shopping. Just spend a few minutes and a few dollars, that’s all that is asked. When you send your note of encouragement, you can ask how to get those to the wonderful folks at the Trinity Cafe, part of Feeding Tampa Bay, which has just been named one of the Top 100 Charities by Forbes Magazine! These bags will be dropped off for distribution at the end of next week, so please take care of those notes today.

It may be the most wonderful time of the year, but it can also be one of the loneliest. Let’s change that with a note of encouragement. Thank you in advance for your generosity, and enjoy my talk with Michael and Kathleen and with Shannon Hannon Olivero, External Affairs Officer for Trinity Cafe.

Ann Kelly

Ann Kelly

Hello, I am Ann Kelly! I was born in Garfield Heights, Ohio (which is a suburb of Cleveland) as one of five children!

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