MIDDLEBURG – As a pastor, Andre Van Heerden gets excited when he preaches the gospel. But he was especially excited as the facilitator of the Clay SafetyNet Alliance meeting on Thursday, Nov. 20. 

The monthly meeting of stakeholders from faith-based, nonprofit and local government organizations, which shares resources to avoid duplication of services, was especially critical this month as thousands face food and financial insecurity. 

When one organization expressed a need, another chimed in with an answer. Moreover, everyone came away with a better understanding of the urgency of the situation. 

The guest panel on Thursday included Outreach Director Charlie Robinson of The Church of the Way on Fleming Island, Waste Not Want Not Executive Director Kathleen Spears, J.P. Hall Children’s Charities Board Member Bruce Butler, Executive Pastor Todd Jones of First Baptist Church of Middleburg and Capt. Tim Scott of the Salvation Army of Clay County. 

They all discussed the demands of the upcoming holidays and planned events to bring relief to underserved communities. 

It started with First Baptist Church of Middleburg’s Feeding 5,000 event on Saturday, Nov. 22. It was a massive undertaking in which 1,000 boxes were filled with a turkey, boxes of instant mashed potatoes, stuffing and brownie mix, and cans of green beans and cranberry sauce. Each box had enough food to feed a family of five. The church distributed 1,000 boxes from its Middleburg parsonage and another 250 boxes from the Family Church of Green Cove in front of Clay High. 

“Normally, we have an Agape House Ministry that meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays each week, and we have about 50 to 60 families that come in to receive food,” Jones said. “We do that, giving them an option to come in only once a month. But with Feeding 5,000, anyone can come. The first 1,000 families that come through receive a box, a box of food that includes ingredients to make an entire Thanksgiving meal, including the turkey.” 

Robinson’s church organizes a dinner and shopping spree for “unaccompanied” teens. According to Clay County District Schools, there are more than 500 homeless students, and The Church of the Way reaches out to “unaccompanied” teens, treating them to a dinner prepared by the Metro Diner. Afterward, they are given a $200 gift card and bused to a store for a shopping spree. 

“Through our conversations with Clay County social workers, we identified that there was a gap,” Robinson said. “We were missing a group of students, a population of students that were not being served, and those were our unaccompanied minors. In other terms, homeless teenagers. They may be bouncing from friend to friend. They may be with family members, but they don’t have a home, so they’re sleeping in their cars. 

“And these are teens that otherwise would not have any type of holiday experience. They wouldn’t have a Christmas. They wouldn’t have a Christmas meal.” 

Robinson said the church expects to identify and invite 70 students. The date and location aren’t revealed because students often don’t want others to know about their situations. 

Butler reminded everyone about the enormous J.P. Hall Children’s Charities Christmas Party on Dec. 13 at the Clay County Fairgrounds, where more than 1,500 children received bags of new toys, and more than 700 bicycles were distributed a year ago. 

Spears said Waste Not Want Not has been tasked with keeping food pantries stocked. The holidays and the recent government shutdown, which cut off SNAP benefits for more than a month, created unprecedented food demand. 

“Our partners are asking for additional food,” Spears said. “Because we’re tracking it, because we’re asking our food donors to give us additional food, we have seen a significant increase. We’re assuming it’s a result of the shutdowns and SNAP. There’s definitely a huge increase.” 

“We’ve seen quite an uptick in the last three months. Our pantry numbers have doubled. There’s a 100% increase in the folks that we’re seeing now.” 

Scott said the Salvation Army has been so busy with its Thanksgiving meal distribution, Angel Tree program and Red Kettle Campaign that it had to postpone its weekly music program until January. 

“You may have noticed some people in front of stores ringing the bell,” he said. “That’s how we pay for what we do, and so that’s our biggest fundraiser of the year. I also have a nifty QR code that you can donate. We are right now doing our Angel Tree program. We’re getting toys together because there will be between 500 and 600 children here in Clay County. We have a food pantry that runs every Tuesday and Thursday. We’re doing about 180 folks a week out of the food pantry.” 

The Salvation Army also provides a free hot meal at every monthly Impact Clay Train stop. 

“This is the type of collaboration that really excites me,” Van Heerden said. “It’s wonderful to see everyone working together like this.”