JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – One of our favorite Positively JAX traditions is back again — Shoeboxes of Love, a simple act of kindness that has changed thousands of lives over the years.
Every holiday season, members of our community donate shoeboxes filled with personal-care essentials, each one wrapped inside a warm blanket. They look like gifts, but for people experiencing homelessness, they often represent something much deeper: hope.
This year, we visited the City Rescue Mission to catch up with people whose lives have been transformed — including two familiar faces who shared powerful updates. And as it turns out, many of their journeys started with one of those shoeboxes.
Brittany’s transformation
When we first met Brittany Cooper last year, she was just one month into the City Rescue Mission’s LifeBuilders program. Newly enrolled, newly sober, and newly determined to change her future, she described her past as a place she never wanted to return to.
Thirteen months later, Brittany says her life today can be summed up in just one word:
“Transformational.”
“It hasn’t been easy. There have been hiccups. But I knew I couldn’t go back to where I was. I would be back in prison.”
Instead of prison, Brittany spent the past year rebuilding her life — and she graduated from LifeBuilders this fall. Now she’s completing a five-week “give-back” program, working the front desk and serving the very people who remind her of who she once was.
When asked whether newcomers remind her of her own journey, she said:
“It does. You have to have patience because they’re in a state you’ve already come through. It humbles you. The love that’s been poured into me, I pour into them.”
Andrew’s Continued Journey: Sobriety, Service, and a New Marriage
We also reunited with Andrew Sampler, another success story we met last year. Andrew has been sober and off the streets for years — now working at the Mission as a chef and chocolatier. And he had big news to share:
“Yes, ma’am… I got married.”
He’s also rebuilding his relationship with his adult son — something he says wouldn’t have been possible without recovery.
“Life is great. Sobriety is amazing… It’s a big part of having the Holy Spirit in my life.”
Though years have passed, Andrew still remembers the moment City Rescue Mission first reached him — through a Shoebox of Love.
“I made my bed and put that blanket on it. I just felt safe. Someone cared enough to make a package just for me.”
Today, Andrew keeps blankets in his car, passing them out to people living on the streets. His life, he says, has become about service.
The mission behind the transformation
City Rescue Mission CEO Paul Stasi says these stories are reminders of why the work must continue.
“This work is a calling. We stay focused on what we’re called to do. Being part of these success stories fuels us every day.”
The Mission’s programs provide long-term support — including LifeBuilders, prison diversion initiatives, 24-hour shelter services, workforce development, and transitional housing. Shoeboxes of Love helps support their holiday outreach by supplying hygiene kits throughout Christmas and all year long.
How you can support Shoeboxes of Love
Last year, you helped donate 2,500 shoeboxes — and this year, the Mission hopes to collect even more.
Donation drop-off locations include:
- News4JAX Studios
- Closets by Design
- City Rescue Mission (McDuff campus) — accepting donations through December 12
You can donate through Sunday, and every shoebox helps someone on their first step toward a new life.
For Brittany, Andrew, and so many others working toward healing and hope — that is PositivelyJAX.