Metropolitan Ministries kicks off 2026 holiday tent season in Tampa Bay Area

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Published November 9, 2026 9:56 AM EST

The Brief

    • Metropolitan Ministries opens its four holiday tents across Tampa Bay for donations on Monday morning.
    • Community members can drop off donations starting at 8:30 a.m. at locations in Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties.
    • Online donors can contribute through the organization's virtual store.

TAMPA, Fla. - FOX 13 and Metropolitan Ministries are again teaming up for the 2026 holiday season to collect donations to help thousands of Tampa Bay Area families in need around the holidays.

Metropolitan Ministries kicks off its 2026 holiday donation drive on Monday morning, hoping to collect nonperishable food items, canned goods, and other items to help Tampa Bay Area families. Metropolitan Ministries will also open four of its tents on Monday, where families can receive food, care, and support ahead of the busy holiday season. 

Metropolitan Ministries expects to serve 30,000 families in need this Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Where to find Metropolitan Ministries' Holiday Tents in Tampa Bay

Dig deeper:

Metropolitan Ministries operates four main Holiday Tents across the Tampa Bay region:

  • Tampa (NEW): Metropolitan Ministries Holiday Tent at 4900 W Lemon St, Tampa FL 33607
  • West Pasco: Generations Christian Church in Trinity at 1540 Little Rd Trinity, FL 34655
  • East Pasco: Metropolitan Ministries East Pasco Campus at 13703 17th St, Dade City, FL 33525
  • Pinellas: Holy Cross Catholic Church at 7851 54th Ave N, St. Petersburg, FL 33709

On Monday, Nov. 9, the four tents will open at 8:30 a.m. They will then be open Monday—Saturday between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. The tents will close at 12:30 p.m. the day before Thanksgiving and reopen on Monday, November 30. The tents will close for the season on Christmas Eve at 12:30 p.m.

What can you donate?

The most needed items are: Frozen turkeys, hams, cereal, canned yams, bagged or boxed stuffing, and cranberry sauce. Bagged or canned beans, soup, bags of rice, boxed or canned potatoes, gravy packets, dessert mixes, canned fruit, canned vegetables, and boxed macaroni & cheese are also in high demand.

How can you donate?

What you can do:

Anyone can donate items at each of these tents, or you can make an online donation through Metropolitan Ministries online Holiday Store. 

Tampa holiday tent break-in recovery

A theft at the Metro Ministries Hillsborough holiday tent site in the West Shore area left the organization with an estimated $50,000 in losses in October. Aluminum from their pipe and drape along with several other items were stolen, according to the organization. They say the losses from last month’s theft have been "more than covered" thanks to the generosity of the community.

The Source: The information in this story was gathered from Metropolitan Ministries and previous FOX 13 reporting.

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