JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Tens of thousands of people in Northeast Florida who are in need of food are going to have a few chances to get it as soon as this weekend.
One Jacksonville-based food bank is making this happen as an emergency response to the government shutdown and as relief heading into the holiday season.
Volunteers are packing thousands of boxes of food at the Feeding Northeast Florida warehouse on Old Kings Road on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
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Susan King is the president and CEO of the food bank and said the goal is to pack more than 4,000 boxes of non-perishable food.
Each box would be enough to feed a family of four for at least one week.
“There are just so many more people seeking assistance right now,” King said. “There are reduced resources to do it. We will try our best. We will continue to work hard to access more food for the community. I hope the donor community steps up and continues to help us try to purchase that food.”
Upcoming food distributions
There are two big distributions happening this Saturday, where some of the food being packed will be given away.
- One is at Regency Square Mall in Jacksonville at 9501 Arlington Expressway, starting at 10 a.m.
- The other is at the MLK Center in Fernandina Beach at 1200 Elm Street beginning at 8 a.m.
Both of the distributions are drive-thru with walk-up accommodations available. No one has to bring an ID to get food.
One volunteer who plans to help pack the food boxes is Kimberly Kim.
She has been a volunteer with Feeding Northeast Florida for a few years now and lives in this neighborhood where the warehouse is. She also helped out at Wednesday’s mobile pantry outreach at Calvary Baptist Church on Dunn Avenue.
“First of all, it is needed,” Kim said about why she never hesitates to help. “We are a community, and it takes one person to make a change. I always tell people, especially my kids, be the change that you want to see in the world. You have to be the example and I’m trying to just make a difference. I feel like we are all one paycheck away from doing the same exact thing. Whether it is giving or receiving, we all need to be a part of our community. Why not?”
Michael Crandall volunteers at Feeding Northeast Florida at least once a week. He said he’s been doing that for more than five years.
Crandall said he owes it to the community to help because he experienced food insecurity with his mom and four siblings when he was a kid.
“I did, but to a lesser degree because I had a nucleus of people that came to help,” Crandall said about his personal experience. “I had neighbors that continuously overcooked and would bring six meals over to my mom. We had a fishing camp about a mile away. When people did not want the fish they caught , the owner would have his kids fillet the fish and bring them to our house. They were many, many people who cared.”
Crandall and Kim are hoping to inspire others to lend a helping hand and are encouraging those who are experiencing tough times right now.
“Let someone help you get over the hurdle,” Crandall said. “This is hopefully temporary for people who are coming here and all they need is to be able to get over that hump. Then they will be more than happy to be independent and self-sufficient. There is an abundance of people that care [who] want to be there for you and help you. There should absolutely be no shame. We are seeing more and more people for the first time that have never asked anyone in their life for help. But these are unusual times. Help is there and we hope that it keeps coming.”
“Hopefully, the love that we are putting into it is felt from the community,” Kim said about preparing the thousands of boxes. “From the beginning to the end, whether it is packing or providing it in the line of putting the boxes together, and giving them to people directly. It is all a part of the process. I am excited, I am happy, and I am grateful to be able to do it.”
Because of the significant interest in volunteers wanting to help over the next three days, all of the volunteer shifts have been filled.
This effort according to Feeding Northeast Florida is a part of a larger campaign to feed more than 40,000 people across the 12 counties it serves by Thanksgiving.