Group of Bay Area women raise money for Metropolitan Ministries through 'Holiday Stroll'

TAMPA, Fla. - This holiday season is a tough one for thousands of families, who are more worried about a place to live than providing Christmas gifts for their children. Metropolitan Ministries sees it first hand, and they are helping more families than ever this year.

Friends on Davis Islands in Tampa are doing their part to help the non-profit, and they have raised thousands of dollars. For 10 years, they have held a Holiday Stroll.  

It was started by Sandra Chancey to honor her late mother. 

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"We all went for the stroll together, and we had the best time," said Sandra Chancey, the founder of the Holiday Stroll. "So this needs to be a tradition. And bringing the food was something in remembrance of my mother, because she would love to feed people."

The Holiday Stroll has grown over the years. On this 10th anniversary, more than 120 women took part, and through their donations and a triple match, they raised more than $50,000 for Metropolitan Ministries.  

"For 10 years, Sandra has done this. She is what we call a hope builder, really rallying the community to help the least of these," Molly James with Metropolitan Ministries said. 

The Holiday Stroll started with a small group of friends, who just wanted to do something good, get in the Christmas spirit and exercise at the same time. Over the years, everyone brought food, and they took the donations to Metropolitan Ministries the next day.  

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Bruna Giammarco was there from the start, and she watched it grow every year. The bigger the group, the more they could give. 

"Very proud, a very generous group of women and always looking to give," she said. "And for those who have been blessed, our blessings are for other people as well." 

For Chancey, this night has always been about seeing friends coming together, doing something as a group that they could never do alone.  

"To be able to raise this kind of money, is this the best feeling," she explained. 

And helping a wonderful organization that really needs the help. 

"We often say nothing good happens at the ministries without the help of the community. And she's the perfect example. She really is. And to think of all the food, the number of cans she's accumulated over the years and now the the dollars is such a blessing to the hurting families we serve," James said.