St. Pete is a burgeoning center of the arts (with a new museum on the way), a home of professional sports going back to the birth of baseball’s spring training in 1914 and a cradle of cutting edge science in the fields of medicine, marine sciences and green energy. Our lore is rich. This is the city where Jack Kerouac died and where Old Hitler the shark steals tarpon off the hook. Only in the ‘Burg will you find the one neighborhood on the West Coast of Florida that was shelled by the Union, a roadside attraction turned garden paradise and the launch site of the first commercial air flight. We have good reasons to treasure our past, relish the present and reach boldly for the future.
But all of that is forgotten when we hold a candle remembering Kelly Harding at the interfaith Homeless Memorial Service on National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day, December 22, at the Trinity Lutheran Church (401 5th St. N.). We never knew Kelly, but she is one of the 51 recorded homeless who died in St. Pete in 2013 and are honored with a candlelight ceremony. The service also includes sung passages of the Q’ran from Imam Askia M. Aquil, a powerful appeal to the area’s conscious from retired bishop Barry Howe and a heart wrenching gospel choir before the main event: the Memorial Dinner. We at iLovetheBurg.com are nondenominational but attend the service and volunteer our time as servers for the dinner under the direction of local humanitarian legend G.W. Rolle. G.W. is a former St. Pete homeless turned leader of the nonprofit, interfaith organization, Celebrate Outreach.
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"Help where you can," G.W. rumbles his motto from the kitchen where he commands the dozen or so volunteers. We sling rice for a seemingly endless crowd into the evening. Many of the hundreds of guests look tired and for want of a bed, but most are smiley and thankful. Servers who need new pans of pasta or turkey bark appeals like marines out of ammo. Men, women and even children shuffle past to take their seats with plates of warm seafood paella or ham. Protein is premium eating. We collapse afterward, spent and smiling, and chat with G.W. in the calm before leaving. G.W. is very clear about one thing: those below the poverty line also need to eat when it isn’t Christmas.
"We do this every Friday and Saturday," G.W. says. "Come by if you haven’t had enough fun here today." Perhaps we surprised him, and ourselves, when we actually show up to the Unitarian Universalist Church (719 Arlington Ave. N.) the next Friday to serve dinner. And the next. And the next. Some of the volunteers are homeless themselves. Others are doing quite well.
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“I’ve volunteered at places where they serve awful food and slop it on their plates,” says Wayne, a single dad in construction who is a passionate volunteer. “Their attitude is like, “I’m doing them a f***ing favor, they’re homeless.” This place isn’t like that.”
Serving the homeless dinner on Friday with Celebration Outreach has become part of our weekly ritual. If you’re interested in feeding the hungry, visit Celebration Outreach’s online calendar and contact information for details on the reccuring weekly volunteering opprotunities and to get set up.
"Help where you can." – G.W. Rolle
Article by Norris Comer, Writer/Editor for iLovetheBurg.com
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