Thousands of pounds of food will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis during an annual Thanksgiving giveaway in Gainesville.
The Strike Out Hunger Farmshare Food Giveaway will be held Thursday at 8 a.m. in the parking lot of The Oaks Mall at 6419 Newberry Road, in front of Belk Department Store.
Sponsored by the Long Foundation Inc., Farmshare, Alachua County Christian Pastors Association (ACCPA), Martin Luther King Jr. Commission of Florida Inc., City of Gainesville, Prayers By Faith Ministries, Upper Room Ministries and The Oaks Mall, the drive-thru giveaway will not serve people who walk up to get food.
“This is the largest food giveaway in North Central Florida annually,” said Rodney Long, who began organizing the event in 2008 while serving on the Alachua County Commission. Long is president and founder of the Long Foundation and MLK Jr. Commission of Florida.
Volunteers give away bags of food during the Strike Out Hunger food drive in The Oaks Mall parking lot in 2021. This year’s event will be held in front of Belk on Thursday at 8 a.m.
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The food given away at the event includes all items Farmshare offers, although turkeys will not be included this year because organizers were unsuccessful in their efforts to get turkeys donated to the giveaway, Long said.
Approximately 100 volunteers are needed to help with the food giveaway and those interested are encouraged to register at https://tinyurl.com/yvuyncp9, call 352-371-4566 or simply come to The Oaks Mall on November 21 at 5am . .
“We would like people to register as volunteers, but if they just choose to show up at 5 a.m. the morning of the event, we have a task for them to complete,” Long said.
November is National Hunger Month in the United States, and Long organized the 2008 Strike Out Hunger Community Wide Food Drive, Food Giveaway with Farmshare and Thanksgiving Basket Giveaway for eligible Alachua County residents. After retiring from the Alachua County Commission, Long founded the Long Foundation and began working with private individuals and organizations, including religious and public organizations, to reduce poverty in terms of homelessness, hunger, unemployment and crime, according to a news release from the Long Foundation. .
The goal of the giveaway is to provide a safety net for people in need of food, increase the availability of food for those with nutritional challenges, raise awareness of Alachua County’s growing hunger problem and collaborate with community partners to provide food. to food insecure residents, the news release said.
The giveaway has changed over the years because “more and more people need food every year,” Long said. “People are still in need and the fact is we still need events like this because of food insecurity.”
Chief Inspector Karl “Derw.” Anderson, one of the senior pastors of Upper Room Ministries of Greater Gainesville in northeast Gainesville along with Shepherd Pearlie Shelton, said he and his congregation are always excited to be part of the giveaway.
“It shows solidarity,” Anderson said. “Churches and other organizations are coming together not only to address food insecurity, but to act on it. Together we are better.”
The holidays can be a time for families and individuals to experience increased levels of loneliness and despair, but the simple act of someone showing them love by giving away some food can do wonders to give those people hope, said Anderson.
“We are blessed to be a blessing,” Anderson said. “I feel blessed to partner with the Long Foundation on this annual giveaway and seeing the smiles on the faces of the many people blessed by the giveaway is priceless. To God be the glory.”
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Farmshare to provide food at Gainesville Thanksgiving giveaway
