Pinellas County Heroes Come Forward During Coronavirus Outbreak

PALM HARBOR, FL — As residents hunker down in their homes during the coronavirus pandemic, Pinellas County businesses, organizations and individuals are doing their part to provide needed supplies and lift spirits.

Souvlaki For Everyone

AdventHealth North Pinellas chaplains and spiritual ambassadors recently partnered with Tarpon Springs restaurant, Mr. Souvlaki, to feed all 400 team members at AdventHealth North Pinellas and AdventHealth Palm Harbor.

In addition to providing a full meal to all team members, the chaplain and spiritual care teams are distributing treats daily to all team members.

Providing A Fighting Chance

On Friday, the Pinellas Community Foundation announced a donation from the Milkey Family Foundation in support of the St. Petersburg Fighting Chance Support Fund.

The Fighting Chance Support Fund is an emergency grant created to serve St. Pete’s locally owned and independently operated small businesses negatively impacted by the pandemic. The grants (not loans) are in the form of $5,000 to impacted eligible businesses and $500 to impacted eligible individuals.

“During this unprecedented crisis, the outpouring from those willing and able to help has been unexpected and inspiring,” said Duggan Cooley, CEO of the Pinellas Community Foundation. “While many people in our community are challenged by this crisis, donors of many abilities are stepping forward knowing every gift matters. The human spirit is strong and the generosity is wide and the gift from Kevin and Jeanne Milkey will make a significant difference.”

The Milkey Family Foundation was established in 2015 and supports a wide range of charitable causes.

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“Here in our hometown, we wanted to do our part to help small businesses in the city that we love so dearly,” said Kevin Milkey. “We fully believe that small independent businesses give the city its unique identity and culture. They really are the backbone of the city. We have frequently supported the restaurants and craft breweries and have gotten to know many owners and servers very well. So, we feel strongly about supporting them at their time of need.”

Pay It Florida-Pinellas

On Wednesday, the Pay it Florida-Pinellas coalition publicly launched its efforts to support the South St Pete COVID-19 Emergency Response Team.

Pay it Florida-Pinellas is bringing together the Pinellas County community at large to uplift the most vulnerable community members in South St Petersburg who, prior to the coronavirus crisis, already faced health care and economic disparities and will be disproportionately impacted by the health and economic impacts of the pandemic.

The Pay it Florida-Pinellas coalition will provide community protection kits (face masks, gloves, sanitizers, resource information), hot meals, nonperishable food items, toiletries and household necessities as well as resource information.

Partnered organizations include The Common Ground Project, Fired Up Pinellas, Indivisible FL-13, St Pete Youth Farm, Atwater’s Cafe, Gospel Ministries, Community Development and Training Inc. and Allendale United Methodist Church.

Programs include providing two food supply sites in the Bartlett Park and Child’s Park neighborhoods. The South St Petersburg Community Response Team is providing hot meals to children and families, feeding about 1,000 residents seven days with donations and in-kind contributions.

Donations of fresh produce, meats, seafood, nonperishable food items, baby supplies, toiletries, paper towels, cleaning supplies, used tablets or laptops, children’s books and activities can be dropped off at:

Atwater's Cafe, 895 22nd Ave. S., St. Petersburg
Monday- Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Sunday from noon to 3 p.m.

The Gospel Ministries, 4030 15th Ave. S., St. Petersburg
Tuesday from 5 to 7 p.m.
Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon

If you are unable to make it to the drop sites during the hours of operations,
email Lisa Perry of The Common Ground Project at lisa@commongroundfl.com to arrange a pick-up or additional drop-off options.

Pay It Florida- Pinellas is also collecting donations and volunteers to help build community protection kits. Each kit will include a face mask (including a “how to care for your mask guide), gloves, hand sanitizer and a coronavirus resource guide. These protection kits will be donated to front-line essential workers and community volunteers as well as at-risk families and seniors.

Email lisa@commongroundfl.com to contribute any of the following donations:
100 percent cotton fabric, bandanas, elastic, large elastic bands, empty prescription
bottles, hand sanitizer or soap, latex or nitrile gloves, homemade face masks,
one-use face masks, brown paper lunch bags, Ziploc sandwich bags, 1- or 2.5-gallon Ziploc bags.

To join the Mask Maker Team, fill out this Google form.

To donate funds to purchase large-scale quantities of food and toiletries, click here.

Sisters Work Together To Assist

When coronavirus closed schools and colleges, the Singer sisters decided they wanted to do something meaningful with their time at home. When they learned they could acquire a bulk order of surgical masks through their father's work, the girls formulated a plan.

Over the course of two weeks in April, the sisters ordered, sorted, packaged, labeled and distributed 3,500 surgical masks to organizations and individuals in the Belleair area. They worked with Belleair Commissioner Mike Wilkinson, Police Chief Rick Doyle and other Town of Belleair employees to get the masks to those who needed them the most.

All masks were heat-sealed into packs of two, labeled with a sticker from the girls and handled with gloves and caution throughout the process.

A number of masks went to the generally older and more at-risk condominium residents in Belleair, with each doorstep in the Residential Property Development and Pelican Place condos receiving two masks. Masks were also donated to the RPD guard station, the Pinellas County court system, the Arc of Tampa Bay, local medical offices and local businesses such as Belleair Market and Belleair Coffee.

Several hundred masks were also allocated to the Belleair Police Department for distribution to residents in need and to the recreation department for inclusion in Belleair's Community Outreach Program for grocery delivery.

While the Singers did reach out to local hospitals and first responders, those organizations were not in need of this type of mask at the time.

Kylie Singer, 23, recently graduated from Florida State University and is now gaining clinical experience in dermatology before starting physician assistant school. Kendall Singer, 20, is a current advertising major and entrepreneurship minor at Florida State University. Kasey Singer, 17, is a high school junior at Clearwater Central Catholic.

"I've known the Singer family for a very long time. When they reached out to me about this project, I was blown away by their kindness, but knowing them I wasn't surprised," said Wilkinson.

"The resourcefulness and generosity of these young ladies is a true example of caring for our community," said Doyle. "Their efforts not only supplied masks to front-line workers and residents in Belleair, but they were able to assist with other medical providers and first responders around the county."