Florida spurs $1 million in donations

Florida spurs $1 million in donations for Homeless

by Alicia ShepardPublished Dec. 9, 2011 4:17 pmUpdated Dec. 9, 2011 4:20 pm

“60 Minutes” doesn’t often do updates unless it re-airs an old story. But it will this weekend because of the overwhelming response to its story on homeless kids living in vehicles in Florida.

Since the piece aired Nov. 27, offers of cash, housing and even scholarships have poured in. The children in the story “didn’t ask for anything,” “60 Minutes” Correspondent Scott Pelley will say this Sunday, according to a transcript. “But since our broadcast, viewers have sent in or promised more than $1 million to help homeless families in Central Florida.”

Three colleges also offered two children in the story, Arielle and Austin Metzger, full scholarships, and all the parents in the story have been offered jobs, according to “60 Minutes.” One of the schools is Stetson University; Arielle wore a Stetson T-shirt in the first story.

“We’ll do several updates a year, but it’s not exactly common,” said “60 Minutes” spokesman Kevin Tedesco. “But in this case, within two weeks there has been a large enough outpouring of offers to help that we felt we needed to let our audience know.”

Valerie Gilchrist accepts a generous donation from GEO's Tim Budz. The photo appeared in The Arcadian on Sunday, May 31

Who We Are and What We Do

This is the home page for the DeSoto County Homeless Coalition.  We are a five-year-old effort that organized to alleviate the hardship and stigma associated with having no permanent address.

Our outreach includes not only the homeless — whether temporary or long-term — but also the agencies in our area that are equipped to help.

Our action area is primarily DeSoto County, Fla., and its core city, Arcadia, but we are a key part of a larger, regional program, Florida Heartland Consortia, a quasi-governmental arm of the Florida Department of Children and Families.