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‘Early bird gets the worm’: Thousands wait for hours to get Thanksgiving supplies in Downtown Jacksonville

Cars file through and gather supplies ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. (News4Jax)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A sea of cars filled the FSCJ Downtown Campus as the sun came up on Saturday.

LIST: 2024 turkey giveaways, food distribution events ahead of Thanksgiving in Northeast Florida

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Thousands of people lined up to try and get free Thanksgiving supplies.

Farm Share hosted a free turkey giveaway. The event also provided families with non-perishable goods, disaster relief kits, and even toys for the holidays.

Kaila Justice helped organize the event for Farm Share with nearly 2,000 meals being provided to those in need.

Volunteers set up supplies as thousands of families get ready for Thanksgiving. (News4Jax)

“It means everything,” Justice said. “I believe that we’re doing great things [Saturday]. We’re feeding the community and it’s an honor to be out here making sure that Jacksonville is fed.”

With the event running while supplies lasted, many families showed up hours before the event started. Some even got there the night prior.

“Early bird gets the worm,” Robert Cgsser said.

He said he arrived around 2:30 a.m.

The event was set to start at 8:30 a.m.

He was born and raised in Jacksonville and said he appreciates the work programs like Farm Share do to help the community.

“It’s great,” Cgsser said. “I just thank the Lord for them. I thank them every time I see them.”

Families in need get free supplies from Farm Share and other local groups who donated supplies. (News4Jax)

There were several events on Saturday across Duval County for people to get a turkey.

For anyone still in need of assistance, click here for a full list of giveaways leading up to Thanksgiving.


About the Author
Chris Will headshot

Chris Will has joined the News4JAX team as a weekend morning reporter, after graduating from the University of Florida in spring 2024. During his time in Gainesville, he covered a wide range of stories across the Sunshine State. His coverage of Hurricane Ian in southwest Florida earned a National Edward R. Murrow Award.

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