Feeding Northeast Florida and Partners Serve Area Veterans and Active-Duty Military Families

Jacksonville, Fla. –– May 10, 2021 –– Research compiled by Veteran Affairs estimates that anywhere from 8 – 25 percent of the veteran population is food insecure. In Northeast Florida, that equates to 3 – 9,300 men and women who served in the U.S. Military are now experiencing hunger. Additionally, the Greater Jacksonville USO reports approximately 7,500 of our active-duty military living on the First Coast are food insecure to some degree.

“It is unacceptable that anyone goes hungry, but it’s particularly troubling that thousands of our neighbors who have protected and served our country are left without enough to eat,” said Susan King, President and CEO of Feeding Northeast Florida (FNEFL). “They willingly give of their time, energy and put their lives on the line to protect our country, and we can easily forget that they may need help too.”

To help ensure that our veterans and active-duty military don’t go hungry, FNEFL works with community partners to provide food and food resources to our service men and women.

 

In October 2020, FNEFL partnered with United Way of Northeast Florida, DoorDash, and The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to deliver food to local veteran families, including homeless veterans. 250 veterans participated in the initiative and received a box of shelf-stable goods weekly in addition to fresh produce, dairy, and proteins. Since the program’s launch, nearly 12,000 food boxes have been delivered to local veterans through this initiative.

 

The VA identified and selected veterans in FNEFL’s service area to participate in this initiative. With the help of United Way 211’s community resources referral center and DoorDash, packages of food and other goods were delivered to the doors of those in the program.

 

“This partnership truly embodies United Way’s mission to connect people, resources and ideas to solve our community’s toughest challenges,” said Jeff Winkler, United Way of Northeast Florida’s head of basic needs. “By working together with Feeding Northeast Florida and the VA on this food delivery initiative, it’s more than providing nutritious meals – we are ensuring local veterans and their families do not slip through the cracks and their critical basic needs are being met.”

Working to help feed our military is not new to FNEFL. In 2018, FNEFL partnered with Humana to build the USO Mayport food pantry complete with coolers, freezers, and food pantry shelving. FNEFL continues to provide a truckload of fresh produce, lean meats and pantry staples to USO Mayport monthly to help stock their pantry. Initially serving 70 families, the expansion enabled the USO Mayport to feed 280 families monthly.

 

More recently, FNEFL was awarded a $110,000 grant from Feeding America (FA) in December of last year to support veterans and military families. Through this grant, FNEFL was able to provide $35,000 to the USO Mayport to assist in the purchase of a refrigerated box truck which will enable the organization to serve more military families across Northeast Florida.

 

“The partnership with Feeding Northeast Florida has been critical,” said Mike O’Brien President and CEO of USO Mayport. “Three and a half years ago when we came up with the concept to create a food pantry, Feeding Northeast Florida was right there at the table. Without that partnership we would never be where we are today.”