It's a time when the ordinary Manatee citizen can feel a bit like Mother Teresa

BRADENTON -- Not everyone can be Mother Teresa who helped set up a charity organization that ran soup kitchens, hospices, dispensaries, orphanages and even mobile clinics for the impoverished in India.

But most in Manatee County can give an item or two of non-perishable food during the 2015 Mayors' Feed the Hungry Program which starts Monday, Nov. 9 and walk in the spirit of Mother Teresa, said Bradenton Major Wayne Poston.

"This is really a tough year," Poston said Monday. "We have a whole lot of people who now are homeless and/or unemployed. We have a lot more single women with families who are in that boat."

The mayors of Bradenton, Longboat Key, North Port, Palmetto, Sarasota and Venice along with the Manatee and Sarasota county commissioners, all endorse the food drive, which starts with food collections Nov. 9-20, Poston said.

The food drive culminates Nov. 20 at the Baltimore Orioles Spring Training site at Ed Smith Stadium from noon to 5 p.m. where the food will be sorted and distributed to food pantries free of charge throughout Manatee and Sarasota counties.

After the food is given to pantries, it will all be given to hungry people in time for Thanksgiving, said Pastor Kevin Washington of Life Changers International World Ministries, 406 10th Ave. W., Palmetto.

"It's an awesome experience to see all the food sorted at Ed Smith Stadium," said Washington who is part of the Mayors' volunteer committee. "You see people from everywhere -- schools, businesses -- all there to make a difference."

Manatee County residents and tourists will begin to see empty food collection boxes around town during the first week in November.

There will be a food donation box at Bradenton City Hall, 101 Old Main St., Bradenton as well as at Coldwell Banker offices in Sarasota and Manatee, Manatee Association of Realtor offices, Popi's restaurants, Chase banks, Detweilers and city halls or police stations in Palmetto. Sarasota, Bradenton, Venice and North Port.

Food can also be dropped off at any participating school in Manatee or Sarasota counties Nov. 10-19.

Donation suggestions include canned soup, meat, tuna, vegetables, peanut butter, jelly, fruit, spaghetti sauce, condensed milk, pie filling, desserts and cranberry sauce.

Packaged food needed includes rice, noodles, dried beans, spaghetti, cereal, hamburger helper, instant potatoes, stuffing mix, powdered milk and pie crust mix.

"I think it's a great program," said Avery Burke, a homeless outreach specialist at Centerstone of Florida. "It ensures people have some type of meal at the holidays."

Richard Dymond, Herald reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7072 or contact him via Twitter@RichardDymond.

This story was originally published November 2, 2015 at 7:43 PM with the headline "It's a time when the ordinary Manatee citizen can feel a bit like Mother Teresa ."