NNB News

Photo by Marisa Barbosa

By Jennifer Israel

St. Petersburg-She smiles. Sitting on a white lawn chair, leisurely dressed in a pink and white gown, she waves.  As the students approach from the sidewalk, she slowly rises, using her walker to balance.  She invites them into her home.
“I am truly blessed to have guys like you do something like this. Thank God for everything,” Denise Jones said, crying.
On November 23, the University of South Florida St. Petersburg’s (USFSP) Neighborhood News Bureau (NNB) journalism students delivered Thanksgiving food bags to 12 area households. The families were chosen by members of Trinity Presbyterian Church. The pastor of Trinity, Alfonso Woods, serves on the NNB Board. He drove around with the students to deliver the bags, introducing some of the families to the group.

“A lot of times people who are closer intimately to others, may be more aware of the need than I am, so we asked the congregation,” Woods said.
St. Petersburg Fire and Rescue donated frozen turkeys and a cash gift card to purchase additional food items.

“The St. Petersburg fire department was awesome. I only made one phone call and there was a tremendous response,” NNB Director Loretha Cleveland said. “They just called and I picked up the turkeys. I don’t know all the names (of the fireman).  Names were not important to them … actually, they thanked us (NNB) for serving the community.”

And, USFSP students, faculty and staff contributed enough canned goods and other non-perishable foods to fill brown paper grocery bags for all the families.  A student’s mother visiting from Lindley, N.Y., participated in delivering the food and made sure every bag included enough ingredients for pumpkin pie.
“I enjoy giving to those who are in need and may not be so fortunate,” Barbara Miller said. It makes me feel good when people in need are totally appreciative of good deeds of others. I really think the need for assistance of some sort is universal from coast to coast. I’m from a small town in Upstate New York where I see the need just like those in Midtown.”

Cleveland said that NNB saw the need in the community, set a goal, and achieved it with help from everyone. Since the students had begun to make a connection with the community through reporting, she believed it was time to take it to the next level with a civic engagement project.
USF alumni, Courtney Gale, heard about the food drive through an e-mail from the journalism department, and sent her contribution in a priority mail envelope from Boca Raton.

“This package is for the food drive,” Gale said.  “I am an alum of USFSP and currently not in the bay area, but I wanted to help out.”

“Getting donations was the easy part. Storing the frozen turkeys was the biggest challenge,” Cleveland said. “The department, friends, and the church stored turkeys in their freezers and it worked.”
The students carpooled to each house, starting in south St. Petersburg, then north and back to south again.

“Come on in, come on in, I don’t have a big place but come on in,” Lynn Buettgenbach said, as she opened the holiday card signed by the students.

NNB student Gabrielle Cinelli donated 12 cards, one for each family.  Cinelli explained the significance of leaving something sentimental with the families.

“The holidays have always been the biggest thing in my family, everyone looks forward to coming together and just spending time. At Thanksgiving we focus on the little things – being happy that we are all together, joking around, and sitting around the table,” Cinelli said. “My mom’s always been very big on getting the feel of holidays in our house, by baking, cards and decorations. I just can’t imagine a holiday without those little things, and I think that’s what holidays should be, sentimental and happy.”
According to Woods, the giver and receiver benefit from such acts of kindness.  He said it all goes back to the foundation of loving your neighbor as you love yourself.
“Having been blessed and having blessed someone, makes you more aware of love and the willingness to express that in a broader sense,” Woods said.

“It hasn’t always been this way,” Jones said.  “I believe it will get better.”