Rep. James Grant Collecting Items for Hope Children’s Home

On Thursday, Rep. James Grant will host a district open house where items will be collected to benefit residents of the Hope Children’s Home, which houses and provides schooling for abused or neglected children.

The event will be held from 5:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. at 12956 N. Dale Mabry Highway in the Carrollwood Shoppes next to Side Splitters Comedy Club.

Mallory Mullen, district secretary for Grant, who represents District 47, commented on the significance of the relationship between Grant and the Home.

“Our office has strong ties to Hope Children’s Home," she said. "It’s a really great faith-based children’s home that has needs which must be met for it to run properly. Representative Grant knew that people would be coming by for our district open house, and that would be a great opportunity to help fill some of the needs that Hope Children’s Home has.”

Mullen, who started her position at Grant’s office a little over a week ago, said Grant has helped the home before, and will again.

“Our goal is to fill all the needs on their list. Some of the things they are more anxious to receive are hand soap and plastic spoons and forks,” Mullen said. “They are always looking for gift cards to Publix, Walmart and Sam’s Club for groceries. It would be great if we could bring those in.”

Mullen said that constituents will have ample opportunity to talk with Grant during the open house, and if each person each brings at least one item, they expect to meet their goal.

District residents are encouraged to attend the open house, which Grant regularly holds in order to be available for any questions or comments.

Ryan Higgins, business manager for Hope Children’s Home, was grateful for Grant’s participation.

“Representative Jamie Grant has been gracious enough to use his open house to benefit Hope Children’s Home,” Higgins said. “He and his aids have sent out a list of the items that are needed – gift cards and food type articles.”

Higgins believes that the event will also promote awareness of the home. It opened in 1968, but has so far remained a hidden gem to many Tampa residents.

The children’s home serves over 300 meals a day, the cost of which adds up quickly, especially since they receive no state or federal funding and exist entirely on donations. A constantly updated list of what the home needs is available on their website.

Higgins said that they are one of the few children’s homes left in Florida who do not expect any from help government sources. It is a distinction that makes Hope unique, he said.

“We’re privately funded and don’t have any partisanship,” Higgins said. “More elected officials are doing events like this. It is my hope that more and more people want to do something as simple as bringing items to an event like this.”

To view the list of items the Hope Children’s Home needs, please visit http://www.hopechildrenshome.org/Needs.htm. For more information and to RSVP for the open house, call 813-265-6280 or email james.taylor@myfloridahouse.gov.