With the help of dozens of volunteers and community partners, Lutheran Social Services hosted a food giveaway and resource fair at our offices Sept. 9 that made a difference to over 1,500 individuals in our community—people like Artrina Baker.
Artrina initially had second thoughts about coming. Other events elsewhere in the city had left her fearful about what to expect. She was glad she came, though.
“Today was an enrichment to my life,” Artrina said. “I’ve never been to an event for helping people where you got food and you got lunch and you got other services. There’s something for everybody here.”
She said she thought the event was clean, calm and well-organized. Like hundreds of other event attendees, she received a bag of food (made possible by a partnership with Farm Share) and had the opportunity to visit about 20 community partners who came out to provide services onsite and distribute information. Partners provided benefits enrollment, health screenings, voter registration and more.
“This is a blessing,” Artrina said. “This is helping me cope with a lot of things I’ve been coping with in the past and changing my mentality and my attitude and my outlook on life.”
Artrina, who has dealt with homelessness as well as other changes she didn’t foresee, said the event was a great starting point for anyone looking for support on the path to self-sufficiency.
Click here to see more pictures from this great event!
LSS would like to thank the following agencies, which participated as vendors and/or provided volunteers:
Ability Housing
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority
Automated Health Services
Children’s Home Society of Florida – Early Head Start
Economy Dentistry
Farm Share
Florida Department of Health
Florida Highway State Troopers Association
Health Planning Council of Northeast Florida
Jacksonville Area Legal Aid
Northeast Florida Healthy Start Coalition – Responsible Father Initiative
Spirit of Life Lutheran Church
Sunshine Health
Thrivent Financial
UF Cares
UNF School of Nursing
UnitedHealth Group
Vision is Priceless
Walmart
WellCare
LSS is so grateful to its caring staff and partners. We could not have helped so many people in so many ways without everyone who volunteered their time and talents!
