Thanksgiving meals distributed to Child Protection Center clients

December 3, 2020

Thanksgiving meals distributed to Child Protection Center clients – Gulf Gate Rotary Club supplied food for “Turkey Day”

The Child Protection Center (CPC) recently celebrated “Turkey Day,” the Tuesday preceding Thanksgiving when the clients and families of the organization pick up a food basket, provided by the Gulf Gate Rotary Club.

In partnership with Publix at Sarasota Pavilion, the Gulf Gate Rotary Club has provided these baskets to the Child Protection Center for over 40 years. Each family receives a turkey and fixings for Thanksgiving dinner as well as food for a full week. Kent Anderson, the President of Gulf Gate Rotary, said, “As you can imagine, the need this year is significant. After starting with 30 baskets in the early days, our goal has increased and we hope to provide 80 […] baskets this year.” They succeeded in providing 80 baskets, which were then distributed to CPC client families.

Doug Staley, the Executive Director of CPC, stated that most of the nonprofit’s clients are on the “economic edge” with 74% living below poverty level. “The impact of these baskets for our clients is huge,” Doug said. “Children cannot heal and learn when they are hungry. These baskets do more than satisfy their hunger, it allows them to begin to heal as they work through their trauma.”

After receiving their family’s basket, a client said, “From my heart, from my family, I want to say thank you for caring about strangers, because the impact is huge.”

The Child Protection Center’s mission is the Prevention, Intervention, & Treatment of Child Abuse. CPC has been serving Sarasota & DeSoto Counties since 1980. In fiscal year 2020, The CPC provided 66,698 services to individuals. For more information on CPC, please call 941-365-1277.