St. Martha’s Ministry (formerly St. Mary’s Soup Kitchen) went above and beyond at Christmas this year in Key West. It served a special holiday dinner and gave socks to KOTS’ 121 clients. KOTS, Keys Overnight Temporary Shelter, is the only temporary homeless shelter in the Keys.
“We provided 18 cooked turkeys, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, gravy, cranberry sauce, rolls and assorted pies to be served,” said Mary D. Leen, director of St. Martha’s Ministry. “We could not have done it without the help of about seven volunteers in preparing the meal.”
Lottie Bowechop, shelter manager, helps distribute the gift of socks and a special holiday meal on Christmas Eve at KOTS. CONTRIBUTED
Since 1977, the charity has provided an evening meal to the shelter clients, 365 days a year.
In 2019 and again in 2020, St. Martha’s Ministry also appealed to the makers of Bombas Socks for a donation to the clients in the Key West shelter. Bombas donates one item to those experiencing homeless for every item purchased.
“They so graciously provided us with 2,000 pairs of socks,” Leen said, adding that they will be distributed weekly at the shelter. This is the second year the ministry has secured the sock donation for Key West’s homeless.
The turkeys for the Christmas Eve dinner were donated by Margaritaville Resort, also a standing donation at Christmas and Thanksgiving.
About Bombas Socks
The company’s mission is to help those experiencing homelessness. For every item purchased from the company, it donates an item on the client’s behalf. Since its inception it has donated more than 40 million items to more than 2,500 community organizations in the U.S., including KOTS in Key West.
