{"id":39709,"date":"2025-11-09T13:01:16","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T13:01:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/39709\/"},"modified":"2025-11-09T13:01:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T13:01:16","slug":"non-profit-distributes-thousands-of-food-boxes-to-nassau-county-residents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/39709\/","title":{"rendered":"Non-profit distributes thousands of food boxes to Nassau County residents"},"content":{"rendered":"

FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. \u2013 The Barnabas Center in Fernandina Beach, partnering with Feeding Northeast Florida, distributed thousands of food boxes this week to Nassau County residents, drawing long lines of vehicles at their location.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Volunteers to spend 3 days at Jacksonville warehouse packing thousands of food boxes for those in need<\/a><\/p>\n

The organization has seen its weekly food pantry attendance jump from an average of 250-260 people to over 300 in recent weeks, marking a nearly 35% increase in demand.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just the SNAP too, we\u2019re in a temporary food desert. No Winn Dixie, no Publix, so we\u2019re down two big stores,\u201d Nick Covino, Nutrition Services Manager at the Barnabas Center, said.<\/p>\n

Despite the growing challenges, the community has stepped up with unexpected support. The center has received numerous spontaneous donations of both food and money, while volunteers have increased their presence to meet the rising demand.<\/p>\n

Food giveaway at the Barnabas Center in Fernandina Beach. (Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

The distribution effort includes not just traditional food items but also innovative solutions for sustainable food security. Visitors receive complete meal packages including turkeys and fresh produce, along with vegetable grow bags containing ready-to-plant seedlings.<\/p>\n

Donnise Coleman, who has served as a Barnabas ambassador for a decade, emphasizes the importance of community support during difficult times.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes you feel good to help somebody that\u2019s in need because I always say – you never know when we\u2019re gonna be in need and somebody has to give something to us,\u201d Coleman said.<\/p>\n

Food giveaway at the Barnabas Center in Fernandina Beach. (Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

The organization continues to adapt to the increasing demand, with Feeding Northeast Florida packing nearly 4,000 boxes this week for distribution across the region.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> for more information about the Barnabas Center.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. \u2013 The Barnabas Center in Fernandina Beach, partnering with Feeding Northeast Florida, distributed thousands of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39710,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3895,2582,116,118,117,3898,414],"class_list":{"0":"post-39709","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-fernandina-beach","9":"tag-government-shutdown","10":"tag-jacksonville","11":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","12":"tag-jacksonville-news","13":"tag-nassau-county","14":"tag-snap"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}