TAMPA, Fla. — About $50,000 worth of materials were stolen from a Metropolitan Ministries tent site in October, delaying preparations for the organization’s Thanksgiving distributions as donations also lag behind past years.
James Dunbar with Metropolitan Ministries said the stolen materials include aluminum uprights and cross members used to build walls inside the tents. The materials help divide the large tents into smaller spaces for families receiving assistance.
“Definitely a whirlwind of a week,” Dunbar said. “We got our tents set up late. Went to go set up the inside of the tents, and a lot of the product we needed was missing.”…