I look across the small sun room at Anita De Biase, a 70 year old woman that doesn’t look a day over 60, as she describes why she works 24/7 for free. She not only works for free but she spends her personal money – yes, that huge social security benefit – to buy the many needed supplies and pay for repairs, gas, electric, and all the other hidden costs of preparing food for up to 400 homeless people every Sunday!
Anita sits back with a calming spirit, smiling as she looks at me through her coke-bottle glasses and says with a thick German accent, “God asked me to feed his sheep. Life isn’t about how much money we make or what we have, it’s about what we do with our life. It gives me such joy to do what I’m doing.”

In 2003, just two weeks after open heart surgery, Anita went right back to serve food to the homeless. She still had the staples in her chest! This amazing woman is the volunteer coordinator for The Heart of Tampa Project, a sector of T.H.O.R.N.

T.H.O.R.N., Thankfully Helping Others Real Needs, founded in 1997 by Kristen Taylor, is an unbelievable organization (a story of it’s own that I hope to tell soon) that has fed the homeless every Sunday in Tampa, Florida for the past 10 years. There are also smaller groups of volunteers that work with The Heart of Tampa Project to feed the homeless Monday - Friday at various locations throughout Tampa.

For over 6 years now, Anita has managed the Sunday meals sector of The Heart of Tampa Project and all of the many nuances that go along with this responsibility. Other than the many facets of putting this massive meal together (we will get into this later), in conjunction with meal time, volunteers distribute clothes, hygiene products, and are a point of contact to help those homeless trying to set up housekeeping….getting off the ground (literally) with nothing. There is a lot of networking done by Anita, and all the members of T.H.O.R.N., to accomplish this Sunday blessing.

Anita knows what it’s like to be without food. Born in Germany in 1938, she was a child refugee of World War II. As a young girl she and her family lived in the city. Her brother would take her to the train station at the crack of dawn for a long ride to the country. She would get off the train and walk from farm to farm to beg for food…eggs, vegetables, grain…anything they would give her. When the day’s work was done, she would take the long train ride back to the city and give the food to her family.

I ask her, “without knowing the number of homeless that will show up every Sunday, do you ever run out of food?” Smiling Anita says, “Oh no, Ricki, God always provides…we never run out of food. I prepare food for 300-400 and there are times when we run low…right before we are about out, up drives a volunteer with a pan of hot food.”

Okay, on the flip side, do you waste food?

“Never. At the end of the third stop Ms. Hanson shows up to see if there are left over lunch bags (more to come on bag lunches). She gives them to children of needy families…if there are any leftovers, we take it to Life Ministries on Orient Road in Tampa. Other organizations provide to T.H.O.R.N and many other ministries are provided for through T.H.O.R.N. Nothing goes to waste…we all network and what one doesn’t need goes to another and what they don’t need goes to another and so on.”

Starting with Friday, let’s take a journey through a typical week in Anita’s life. She goes to the Resurrection Church, a catholic church in Riverview where food is brought in from the Nativity Food Bank and other organizations. Diane Priolo heads up this program which helps feed over 50 families and provides to T.H.O.R.N. Diane called Anita and told her about the food program for those in need. She and Anita worked together years ago.

Each week, the food bank delivers an assortment of food including juices, can drinks, snacks, power bars, can goods, packaged foods, water, paper products and more. Anita stays at the church for 3 or 4 hours making lunches, packing them in recycled plastic grocery bags, and stacking them in used banana boxes. She leaves the boxes at the church where Rick Simmons, a T.H.O.R.N. volunteer, comes with his truck, loads the boxes and brings them to Anita’s house by Sunday. An afternoon’s work is done when 10 to 12 of these large boxes are full and the remaining food is sorted into categories for others to pickup.

It’s Saturday morning and Anita is on her way to Sweetbay Grocery Store on Fletcher Avenue in Tampa. Sweetbay gives Anita all their outdated (only by 1 day…the food is good, it just can’t be sold) food, meats, veggies, breads, cakes, cookies, pies, and fruit. She loads her seen-a-better-day van (200,000 miles and the door is falling off). She heads home with her Saturday mother load.

She now starts to sort the food in a very organized make-shift kitchen…a far distant relative to an industrial kitchen. (When I first met Anita, she proudly says, “Do you want to see my kitchen?” I took the grand tour.) You drive up to Anita’s on a small dirt path off the worn asphalt road. Her house sits on what looks to be a ¾ of an acre. It’s a humble, country blue house built in the early 70’s that has seen its share of hard times… Anita took care of her sick husband for years until he died at home 5 years ago.

At the back of her property is a small building with storage shelves and a sorting table where she takes in clothes, hygiene supplies, furniture, and everything else that is donated. She sorts it all and what can’t be used by T.H.O.R.N. is given to other organizations that help the needy…there’s a whole network of these organizations. One gets a call and if they can’t use it, the calls keep going through the organizational chain until bingo, a need is met.

I got to see how this works first hand. My nephew, Patrick McRae, leases big trailers, the kind that are hooked up to trucks to haul big loads. Recently a trailer was returned containing a load of 400 gallons of spring water. His company wanted to get rid of it but didn’t want to just dump it and time was running out. He heard from his mom that I was doing some work with the homeless and asked me if I could use the water. I called Anita and she gave me the name of another organization that houses homeless people. He gave me a contact and number at the Nativity Food Bank. They welcomed the donation and Patrick arranged for a driver to truck the trailer to the food bank where it was off loaded by forklift. What could have simply been another waste of a very valuable resource, ended happily for everyone involved.

Okay, back to Anita’s week. It’s still Saturday and she’s just about done sorting all those groceries. And just like any other Saturday, Olzzie, another big-hearted volunteer, shows up to pickup all the food that Anita will not use on Sunday. All the food needs to be used in 2 days. Olzzie distributes her share of the mother load to 10 needy families. And, like magic all the food is put to good use. No waste.

After Olzzie leaves (she’s in and out in 30 minutes), Anita starts her prep-work – cleaning, cutting, and organizing. Her friends say, “Don’t go to Anita’s, she’ll put you to work.” Sometimes volunteers come and go - help a while - which makes the night more enjoyable. Her older brother is visiting from Germany for several weeks and she put him to work. When Anita’s son, Carl De Biase, 47 , and her grandchildren Ryan 23 and Zachary 4, are visiting from Johnstown, OH she puts them to work too. But, many nights it’s just Anita in her make-shift kitchen. After prep work the cooking begins and usually ends around 4 or 5 p.m.

Sundays start around 8a.m. Anita makes fruit salads and tossed salads, cuts up the fresh Panera bread Kathy Eldridh (she and Kathy go way back) brings to Anita every Saturday. Anita says, “You know that bread is expensive.”

Anita heats the food cooked on Saturday and puts it in tin serving pans or directly into clean coolers which keeps the food hot all day. Then the mobile kitchen (a utility trailer with built in counters and cabinets and a small stove and refrigerator) is loaded with all of this wonderful food and re-stocked with paper products, clean utensils, trash bags, and the banana boxes full of bagged lunches that were made on Friday. Many of the volunteers show up at Anita’s house on Sunday. They bring food, fresh fruit, sometimes clothes, shoes, socks and hygiene products. Other volunteers meet Anita and the others at the first stop…or second…or third. As Anita would say, “God will take care of it.”

Everyone shows up whenever or wherever and it all gets done! The core serving crew, Grace, Ruben, Jody, Vicki, Lolly, Rob, Pat, Marylyn meet at Anita’s. Rob and Pat drive a truck and hook up the drink trailer to haul it to each stop. The trailer is set up with hot coffee, water, lemonade, and cups. They also carry 6 or 7 banquet tables that are set up at each stop.

Sunday, 2:30 p.m., the first stop, a lot at the corner of 50th street and Columbus (they may lose this spot soon – the police have been running them out of this area) in Tampa is taken over by a cavalry of volunteers. The food wagon (mobile kitchen) rolls in, pulled in quickly and precisely by Kristen. The drink trailer pulls up beside the kitchen. Within minutes 4 banquet tables are lined up and covered with table clothes. In seconds a team of 15 to 20 volunteers are taking food from the kitchen to the tables, setting up cafeteria style, starting with paper plates, plastic forks, spoons, knives, napkins followed by bread, tossed salad, fruit salad, a main course of stew, chicken and rice, and noodles, and a sea of dessert…pie, pastries, cookies, cakes, and fresh fruit. Finally, at the very end of the table there are the banana boxes full of lunches.

In the meantime, Joe has set up a table behind his SUV to hand out clothing. The homeless people browse as if at a flea market on Saturday morning and only take what they can use. No waste. Joe loads up his SUV at Anita’s on Sunday’s where she has sorted everything by type, gender, etc. Next to Joe are Ron and Marylyn handing out hygiene products…little containers (recycled pill bottles and film canisters) of shampoo and soap…deodorant, razors. On top of the plastic drawers, neatly filled and categorized by product type stacked 5 ft high, is a box of assorted chocolates, a treat for those that have a sweet tooth after lunch.

There are around 90 homeless people gathered around. They know what time Sunday lunch is served. Kristen leads in prayer and then they file in slowly and start to fill their plates, saying thank you at every turn. A light mood sprinkled with calmness, gratefulness, kindness, and sadness floats softly through the crowd, reflecting life as it is for today. As each person comes to the end of the line they are handed a bagged lunch and a piece of fresh fruit for another meal later that night which is often save for the next day.

After everyone has had ample time to come back for seconds, the trailer and kitchen are loaded and off to the next stop. There is no sign that T.H.O.R.N. was even there, much less fed and provided for just under 100 people. Not even a piece of trash. Within minutes the homeless have scattered….back to the woods, streets, or wherever they go until night fall. Nightfall…may they be lucky enough to get a bed at the Salvation Army or one of the other shelters that open on cold nights. And, there are always church steps.

This magical, at-the-blink-of-an-eye process is completed at stop 2 under the Cross-town bridge just before Channelside at 3:30. There are 85 or more waiting for a hot meal. I see a tall, clean-cut black man holding his son’s hand. The child is dressed in cute jeans and long sleeve shirt and looks to be about 3 years old. One of the volunteers digs through a box and pulls out a little stuffed toy and takes it to the child. The young boy smiles from ear to ear.

Blink…it’s a wrap at this stop and once again this magical team of big hearts create this blessing again…it’s 4pm and the last stop is in a parking lot off Jefferson Street in downtown Tampa behind the Greyhound bus station, several blocks down from the city jail. Around 150 homeless line up to eat. The mood throughout the day, is again, soft clouds of calmness, gratefulness, kindness…..and sadness, floating just above our heads.

It’s Monday and Anita is cleaning out the mobile kitchen, washing containers and pots, cleaning the kitchen, and getting all the supplies ready for Sunday. Tuesday - Thursday there is much to be done…sort donations, make phone calls to organize this and that for the week to come. There is networking, helping other organizations that help the needy, taking phone calls of those in need, matching up services with people in need, and around and around and on and on the week goes.

I ask Anita, “What happens if you are sick or take time off.” She says, “I’m rarely not here”. In September 2007 she went through knee surgery and had to stay off her feet for the weekend but the following week she was back out there. “When I’m not able or gone, Kristen takes care things.”

Kristen, president of T.H.O.R.N., manages all other aspects of this organization, (in addition to caring for her family of 12 children), and, also comes out each Sunday to hook up the kitchen on wheels to pull it to the 3 serving locations. She starts each meal with a prayer and lends an ear to the weary.

I’ve heard that Kristen has the voice of an angel and a heart the size of a small planet. Look at her website to learn more about T.H.O.R.N. at http://www.kristintaylor.com. Although the website is in dire need of work, if you make it through to the end there are some powerful, life changing stories and it is well worth the journey. If you are computer geek and reading this article, give Kristen a call to donate some of your talent. Her website needs you!

December 16, 2007 was a special day for T.H.O.R.N. Or might I say it was a blessing for a 6 day old, homeless baby and her parents. A family of three - mom and dad look to be in their early twenties, a very thin handsome couple - living in their car with their newborn, a healthily looking baby that could fit in the palm of your hand. The sky was blue, around 70 degrees with a forecast of temperatures dipping into the low 30’s that night. (HelpKeepWarm.org, an organization dedicated to help keep the homeless warm by distributing sleeping bags during the coldest months of the year, was making their debut that day, passing out sleeping bags at the T.H.O.R.N. lunch stops.) . The universe was in order that day at lunch stop 2.

Kristen was making her usual rounds through the crowd, exchanging conversation and hugs with the homeless. She noticed the young couple with their baby and went over to their car and talked with them for a long while. Later I found out she gave them her phone number and told them to call if they needed help. A week later the mother got sick and was taken to a hospital. The baby was now around 13 days old.

The panicked father found Kristen’s number in his pocket. He made the call. Kristen opened her home doors to him and his baby just days before Christmas. The mom was in the hospital for several weeks and has now joined dad and baby at Kristen’s….a warm bed for now until they get on their feet.

I was helping serve lunch the Sunday before Christmas and Kristen came up to me and said with a big smile, “Come look at my baby Jesus.” Her daughter was sitting in the back seat of their SUV holding this beautiful newborn. Kristen’s kindness is eye opening. Would you have opened your door to this family of 3?

Packaged neatly, Anita De Biase’s home is the headquarters or congregational site for Sunday meals. This is a well oiled machine – 3 meals served to 300 to 400 homeless at 3 locations in just 3 hours each and every Sunday. So much work goes into this seemingly effortless, weekly event.

I asked Anita, “If you could have anything to help with your Sunday work, what would you want?” She thought for a few minutes, and said with a smile, “A gas card. I do so much driving and gas is expensive.” Think a little bigger Anita. She smiled bigger, “A cell phone.” Bigger! “A new van. My door is falling off and it has over 200,000 miles on it.” Bigger! “A walk in freezer.” Come on Anita, bigger! Anita, smiling the biggest smile of the day, and said with the excitement of a child on Christmas morning, “An industrial kitchen.”

As I walked away that day my mind categorized the day (happy, sad, unbelievable, jaw dropping) and Anita was in a category of all her own, Angel Extraordinaire! She wished for nothing for herself, only to give to those who seemed to have less than she does. So my wish for this year is, that all of Anita’s humble wishes come true.

To help The Heart of Tampa Project call Anita at (813) 677-8058.

By Ricki South, Founder of www.HelpKeepWarm.org