Submitted by Gerry Clare
Roving Reporter
March 10, 2016 10:57 a.m.
A few years ago I passed a long line of people in the Loop parking lot on Sadler and South 14th Street. Of course being the roving reporter for Fernandina Observer, I stopped by to report the story of the Journey Church feeding the hungry. There’s more to the story.
Wednesday, March 9th, marked the official ribbon cutting/opening for the new 12,000 square foot building off island and next to the main Journey Church near Northampton on Amelia Concourse. The new Outreach Center provides food for over 500 families a week and now there is plenty of room to seat the waiting families in a comfortable auditorium and waiting area. Jonathan Mock, an elder in the church and former outreach minister, who provided information for my previous story, explained the procedure.
Families sign in at the receiving area, get a restaurant pager and wait for their signal to proceed through the new food area with a shopping cart and volunteer through refrigerated cases and dry food shelves, fresh produce areas, past the huge freezers and storerooms to the check-out area, where their bags are packed by another volunteer.
Food is provided by agencies such as the “Feeding Northeast Florida”, Farm Share, and local grocery stores and outlets. The Journey Church is even equipped with its own truck to make the process easier for local donations. Jerry Patterson is the daily Outreach Center Manager and offered tours to the large turnout at the opening ceremonies. As he, Pastor Darryl, and Jonathan mentioned, the volunteers are key to this operation and making those in need feel comfortable and loved in the process.
The Journey Church is looking for partners from other churches and, as always, more volunteers to continue with this effort. The Council on Aging runs at least two trips a day back and forth to the Center. Hours for distribution are: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and every third Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12 noon. There are even special hours for working people in need on Tuesday evenings.
For more info or to volunteer contact the Journey Church or Lead Pastor Darryl Bellar at 261-8310.
Editor’s Note: Gerry began free lance writing for fun and is the author of a published book (available on Amazon and at Books Plus) about funny real estate experiences. Gerry is a longtime member of our local American Business Women’s Chapter, a volunteer cancer driver and church deacon who loves to read, travel and meet interesting people.