Employees of Doc Ford’s Rum Bar & Grille’s St. Petersburg Pier restaurant recently volunteered at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Tampa Bay’s shelter.

Employees volunteer at SPCA

ST. PETERSBURG — Employees of Doc Ford’s Rum Bar & Grille’s St. Petersburg location volunteered their time at the local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Tampa Bay shelter.

During their visit, they assisted the nonprofit organization by organizing the kennels, cleaning the litter pans, along with the food and water dishes, and also bathed several dogs.

“Our employees really thrive on serving their local communities,” said Joe Harrity, a partner with HM Restaurant Group, the parent company of Doc Ford’s Rum Bar & Grille. “Team members also recently served meals at the Ronald McDonald House in St. Pete and will be returning soon.”

Doc Ford’s locations in Southwest Florida have volunteered at a local food pantry, installed Halloween decorations and built a miniature replica of the Fort Myers Beach Doc Ford’s for the train village at Lakes Park in Fort Myers, demonstrating the restaurant’s commitment to community.

HM Restaurant Group has donated to a number of charitable causes in the communities it serves. Its Hospital Drinks program, which allocates $1 from select cocktails, has raised more than $123,000 for All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg and Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida in Fort Myers.

Shopapalooza raises $4,500

ST. PETERSBURG — LocalShops1, the coordinator of the Shopapalooza Festival, provided an option for festival vendors to contribute $150 to Live Love St. Pete, a nonprofit dedicated to helping local school children, for the benefit of an earlier festival check-in.

The collective contributions to this initiative amounted to $4,500, which were donated directly to Live Love St. Pete.

Live Love St. Pete was established by Melody Proud, a resident of St. Petersburg.

The donors include various local businesses such as 15 Olives, Beach Blossom Studio, Bodacious Pens, Casey’s Collections, Dr. BBQ, FnP Accessories, featuring Crushable Seagrass Hats and BigSkinny Wallets, For the Bay Clothing Co., Foutaz, Gatherings by Angel, Gifts, Decor and More, Gnome Sweet Gnome, Great Scott Designs, Irish Ann, Jerky Man Dan’s, Just Cause Chocolates, Love, Liz Xo Designs, Luxenberry, Magni’s Munchies and More, Mama Mel’s Pet Food, MnM Makings, My Backyard Babies, Petals and Glow, Sew Fun Threads, ShapeShifter Fish and Friends, Silked, Sunny South Love, The Jagged Oyster, The Salty Shell Shop, Two Chubby Seacows, Walking Dog Toys, and ZPlantMagic.

LocalShop’s Shopapalooza is a free community festival scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 30, and Sunday, Dec. 1 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It will feature over 350 local artisans, small businesses, and entertainers.

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