History
Late 1980’s:
Naples is a sleepy town on the idyllic Florida southwest coast. Mostly retirees and locals make up the population. Underneath the picturesque vista, however, is a forgotten group of homeless people. Desperate and starving, they have no hope until the day a group of parishioners study the book of Matthew in the Bible, where Jesus explains to his disciples about how taking care of the needy is as important, if not more so, than taking care of Him.
November 15th, 1988:
Within a few days of this Bible study, an article appears in the Naples Daily News about the homeless population living in the woods. The scripture fresh in their minds, the parishioners, dubbing themselves, “The Task Force for the Homeless”, begin taking soup out to these forgotten souls. The first Thanksgiving Day meal is served to the homeless and hungry a couple weeks later.
Encouraged by the grateful response, the Task Force begins gathering contributions of food and clothing, then establishes a food pantry and launches a search to find a suitable location for a shelter to care for the homeless and hungry of our community.