Volunteer Opportunity: Trinity Cafe

Trinity Café
1603 N. Florida Ave.
Tampa, FL 33679
(813) 865-4822

If you have a warm heart and a desire to serve smiles and hot lunches to those in need, Trinity Café would be happy to meet you.

This non-denominational, not-for-profit restaurant is located inside the building at 1603 N. Florida Ave. Although its customers are the homeless and hungry, the café is not a soup kitchen. Five days a week, volunteers greet guests and seat them at tables decorated with tablecloths, floral arrangements, silverware and dishes. Volunteers also fill the diners’ breadbaskets and beverage glasses while serving the meals a five-star chef has prepared.

The café serves lunch Monday through Friday from 11am to 1:15pm to roughly 200 guests. Each day, 24 volunteers are needed, typically two per table -- one to act as the table’s host, sitting with the diners and chatting with them; the other to serve soup or salad, the main course, and dessert.  

According to the café’s Web site, the café has served more than 656,000 meals since 2001 to hungry men, women and children, providing the only restaurant-style meal that some can experience and the only meal of the day for others.

If interested in volunteering, you must be at least 16 years old and ready to work in a fast-paced atmosphere. The café asks that you wear close-toed shoes; it provides aprons, gloves, and any other equipment needed.

Volunteers can sign up for an hour and a half each week or month. Businesses, relatives, and others who wish to volunteer as a group are welcome also.

For more information, visit the volunteer page at the organization’s Web site, or call 813-865-4822.