Trailer full of supplies stolen from group that helps homeless in Bradenton, Palmetto
A stolen trailer is making feeding the homeless more challenging than ever for one local nonprofit.
Freedom Gathering on 14th Ave. East in Palmetto is used to depending on the kindness of strangers when they feed the homeless every week. It takes donors and volunteers to help run the nonprofit, which has been around since 2018.
But a recent theft now has them scrambling.
At around 4:30 a.m. June 11, surveillance video showed a four-door white pickup truck hooked up to their 16-foot enclosed trailer and drove it out of the parking lot, founder Tonia Johnson told the Bradenton Herald.
The nonprofit, which was originally started in Bradenton, had been at the Palmetto location since around April after the original Bradenton property on 14th Street sold, Johnson said.
A police report for the stolen trailer was filed with the Palmetto Police Department, but Johnson said they haven’t had any luck finding it.
Johnson, who has been feeding the homeless at least once a week since 2015, said the trailer was essential to their operations, especially as they have shifted to being more mobile and doing more events out in the community.
Losing the trailer has meant them relying on people to donate their time and vehicles to bring all the stuff they need for an event.
This has caused some events to be canceled and has made life more difficult for everyone involved, she said. But so far, they are managing. On Sunday, Johnson said they pulled off their first “big community outreach” without the trailer at a non-regular location.
It took four people donating their trucks to bring all the stuff they needed.
“We’re still going, but it’s been tough. It’s so much work because you’ve got to go back and unload at a couple different places and take it to your main warehouse,” Johnson said.
Along with the trailer, they lost tables, chairs, generators, canopies, coolers, beverages, extension cords, cooking supplies, grills, speakers and more.
“That was all the stuff we’ve accumulated over the last nine years,” Johnson said.
A growing population
Homelessness has been on the rise in the U.S., with homelessness rates climbing nationally by about 6% every year since 2017, according to data from the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Over 420,000 people were homeless in the U.S. last year, with nearly 130,000 of them being categorized as “chronically homeless,” meaning they didn’t have a place to stay for a year or longer.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that organizations that count homeless people have seen increases compared with 2022, which is something Johnson said they have also seen at Freedom Gathering.
“Our mission is to help the people who are less fortunate, and unfortunately right now there is so much more of it with the rent factor and inflation. More and more people can’t renew their leases and are sleeping in their cars and the motels are full. I see it all the time,” she said.
Freedom Gathering feeds around 250 to 300 people per week, Johnson said, with many of them coming to a sit-down dinner every Wednesday from 12-4 p.m. at 1420 20th Ave. W.
This Wednesday, they served homemade meatloaf, garlic mashed potatoes, garden salad, two different varieties of casserole as well as vegetables. Last week they served more than 100 Angus beef burgers, 75 Italian sausages, as well as hot dogs, boneless chicken breast and chicken thighs.
A couple Sundays a month, they also serve food in Arcadia and Bradenton.
But it is hard to do sit-down dinners without all the folding tables, chairs and other equipment that went missing, Johnson said.
That’s why Johnson started a GoFundMe fundraiser for a new trailer and supplies, and it has raised nearly $2,000 so far.
Johnson wrote on the GoFundMe that she “appreciates anything at this point” and prays that it does not take them another nine years to accumulate all the items that were lost.
Those interested in learning more about Freedom Gathering can contact them at 941-951-4040 or can find more info on their Facebook page.
This story was originally published August 16, 2023 at 3:30 PM.
