JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – With food insecurity becoming a major concern, one local school is making sure families get the help they need.
Students at Trinity Christian Academy are rolling up their sleeves during the school’s annual “Feed the Need” event.
Thousands of meals are packed over the course of just two days. The school starts with a two-week fundraiser followed by the “Feed the Need” event.
They’ve been doing this event for a couple years, but this is the first year they’ve gotten everybody from preschool through 12th grade involved.
The event comes at a critical moment when food insecurity is becoming a major concern.
According to Feeding America, in 2023, over 147,000 people were food insecure in Duval County – a rate of 14.7%. Moreover, among food insecure people in the county, 38% were above the SNAP threshold, while 62% were below the threshold of 200%.
A total of 10,000 meals go to the Trinity Rescue Mission Homeless Shelter in Jacksonville.
The younger students also stepped up and are sending an extra 1,500 “blessings bags” to Trinity Rescue Mission.
“They have been packing hygiene packets and meals fortherescue mission downtown. They packed 10,000 meals and 1,500 hygiene packets with wash cloths and soap and different things that some of thehomeless population of Jacksonville need on a regular basis,” Director of Development Crystal Down said.
On Thursday, 6th through 12th graders will get a chance to put together meals.
“It’s been such a unique and wonderful event to get to see kids as young as 4, 5 years old, all the way through 18 years old. We’ve got kids on the football team. You’ve got kids in the band, just all kinds of kids participating,” Down said.
The school is part of a larger organization with Trinity Rescue Mission, which helps hundreds of overnight guests and the homeless population in Jacksonville.
Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.