Give food, get circus tickets or toddler play date

NOVEMBER 15, 2011

While it's always good to donate when you can, there's some perks for donating food this month. On Thursday, if you donate some food, you get circus tickets. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is collecting food for Metropolitan Ministries on Thursday. A donation of 10 nonperishable, unexpired food items earns a ticket voucher for the 7:30 p.m. Jan. 4 opening night circus performance. Limit four tickets per household. Parking is available on the circle drive at the St. Pete Times Forum. Drop off the food from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday at the St. Pete Times Forum 401 Channelside Drive.

Next week, kids 5 and under can go to any of the Tampa Bay Gymboree Play and Music's during their open plays (offered every day) and play for free. They are asking for a canned or shelf stable food item per child that will be donated to local food pantries. It normally costs $20 per child for these classes. The times of the open plays can be found online at www.gymboreeclasses.com or you can call the sites directly.

Looking for more ways to help? We have a running list here of some of the charities and non-profits that are stepping up their efforts to help those in need.

--Sharon Kennedy Wynne

Posted by Sharon Wynne at 1:18:00 pm on November 15, 2011 in

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Sharon Kennedy Wynne has sunscreen in her blood. She may have been born in Buffalo but she got here as fast as she could, in time for kindergarten. She grew up in St. Petersburg, graduated from the University of Florida journalism school, and even got married at Sunken Gardens. She's one of the few adults we know who actually loves taking her kids to the beach. She has two sons and with 10 years of parenting under her belt, she's starting to feel a little less out of her league. She comes from a large family and loves to debate, so brace yourself when the hot topics come up.

E-mail Sharon Kennedy Wynne:
wynne@tampabay.com

After six long years of trying to have a baby, Kate Brassfield was finally able to have one. And then, two minutes later, another one. Suddenly the lady who had never been around babies before was juggling two! Just as Kate felt she was getting pretty good with babies, the girls became toddlers, and now Kate is back to Square One, learning about the care and feeding of these strange, wonderful creatures. She spends her days working part-time from home and trying to keep up with the Twinosaurus Wrecks.

E-mail Kate Brassfield:
katedaphne17@gmail.com

Freelance writer Courtney Cairns Pastor wasn’t so sure about having kids and how she would balance child-rearing with her journalism career. It turned out that her journalism training went to good use. As the mom to a funny, active toddler, she learned to handle him like she did her sources. Never ask yes or no questions (the answer will always be no), get him to be specific (are you crying because you’re wet or your tooth hurts?) and be prepared for anything because no two days are the same. When she’s not playing trucks, Courtney crams for her book club, trains for races and occasionally bursts into showtunes. E-mail her at courtneyblogs@gmail.com.

Suzannah DiMarzio has it bad for the Mouse. Although she grew up outside of Boston, she took her degree in tourism management down to Orlando just to work at Disney and the travel industry. Of course, when she married her high school sweetheart, the reception was at Disney. She’s now a seasoned stay-at-home mom to two tweens and a toddler – and yes, that is as crazy as it sounds. Suzannah has her own blog, ZannaLand.com , and she's a member of the Walt Disney World Moms Panel in addition to being addicted to Twitter, iced coffee, and watching way too much Yo, Gabba Gabba.

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