36 Toys and $250 Donated!
Posted on Jan. 3, 2022 / Subscribe 0
Dropping off this year's donations at the Metropolitan Ministries Holiday Tent
By Joseph Priest, APR
Despite a year when a continuing pandemic reduced the efforts of many organizations, PRSA Tampa Bay managed to finish 2021 big. On Dec. 14, our chapter wrapped up the year at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts with our annual holiday mixer, and, continuing a tradition, the Public Service Committee held a toy drive to bring in donations for Metropolitan Ministries.
This year, though, the drive included two new elements. The first was an online fundraiser component through which monetary donations could be made directly to Metropolitan Ministries. The second was the participation of the American Marketing Association Tampa Bay, which jointly held the holiday mixer with PRSA Tampa Bay this year.
Members and guests enjoy the mixer in a tent outside the Straz Center
Thanks to the generosity of our chapter, the AMA chapter and our guests, we succeeded in making the holidays a little brighter for a lot of local kids. In all, we donated 36 gifts, including a variety of toys, dolls, books, and games, as well as $250 in direct online contributions to Metropolitan Ministries.
We dropped off the gifts at the Metropolitan Ministries Holiday Tent shortly after the mixer, which wasn’t a moment too soon to help many needy families looking for gifts for the holiday season. Metropolitan Ministries expected to serve more than 30,000 families in need for Thanksgiving and Christmas in 2021, a yearly need that our chapter has eagerly helped serve the past several years.
Membership Committee Chair Bart Graham shows his support for the chapter while lending a hand gathering donations following the mixer
To entice even more donations for this effort, we held a prize drawing to randomly award a few of the contributors. To be eligible, PRSA, AMA members, or guests had to bring a new, unwrapped gift, which was collected with other gifts for drop-off later at Metropolitan Ministries, or make a donation through the online fundraiser. Each gift or $10 donated earned the contributor one ticket entered in a drawing for prizes, which this time included three $10 Starbucks gift cards, two $20 Chick-fil-A gift cards, and one $50 Cheesecake Factory gift card.
Hussain Shamseddine, president of AMA Tampa Bay, helps me select the winning tickets for the prize drawing
Among the highlights of the mixer was the official passing of the gavel from 2021 PRSA Tampa Bay President Josh Carrasco, APR, to incoming 2022 President Kaley Infield, APR
The Public Service Committee thanks everyone who participated in the toy drive and online fundraiser, and everyone who helped our chapter give back to the community throughout the year. Stay tuned to the PRSA Tampa Bay website for more ways you can help us serve in 2022.
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