Car punches hole in kitchen for homeless
TAMPA (FOX 13) - A teenage driver suffered minor injuries when her car slammed into the side of the Trinity Cafe on North Nebraska Avenue in Seminole Heights Tuesday morning.
Police say a 15-year-old girl was driving the car that slammed in the building around 6:30 a.m.
“[We were] prepping like we normally do and we all heard a large crash,” recalled Trinity's executive chef Benito Dazzo. “I thought somebody knocked something over and we noticed there was actually a car in the dining room.”
Damage to the building was bad enough to close down the dining room, where they feed up to 600 homeless people a day. The kitchen, however, wasn’t damaged so they never missed a beat.
The cafe's clientele is the area's homeless population. Dazzo says they serve hundreds of meals a day. Rather than shut down, Trinity's staff decided to feed people outside in the parking lot until the building can be fixed.
"Our guests depend on us being here. I have guests that I know it's their only meal of the day," said Dazzo. "Cars or no cars, we get that meal prepared."
Officials say there is a stress fracture in the building and it could take a while to get the damage fixed. Trinity's staff says they will continue to feed people outside.