More than 120 volunteers from local churches, schools, and other organizations took the time to make sure residents received food items from the Farm Share food distribution event at East Milton Elementary School.
Click Here: To view photos from the Farm Share food distribution event in East Milton
Representative Doug Broxson along with staff from his office helped organize the event with Farm Share, which delivered a truck full of produce, including fruit and vegetables for distribution to people in need.
Broxson, along with Santa Rosa County Commissioner Bob Cole, greeted residents as they drove to the school in order to receive the food items. Broxson said this event is more than providing residents with a few free bags of groceries.
“If we can create some momentum, where these folks can have a sense of hope and believe again then we have done something good,” Broxson said. “One bag of groceries really will not do anything, but the people here that are friendly and caring that is really the message we are sending.”
In addition to East Milton Elementary School, representatives and students from Milton and Pace high school’s along with students from Avalon Middle School took the time to hand over bags of food items to each vehicle which pulled up to the school. Volunteers with the Navarre CERT organization were on hand to help with the flow of traffic, while members of the St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church and the Southeastern Dog Hunters Association helped distribute the food items.
Milton resident Cecil Tolbert was appreciative of what the food distribution event had to offer.
“I think it’s really good that they have things like this going on because there is a lot of needy families around the area that they could use this stuff,” he said.
Tolbert, who said he went to the event in order to receive food items, he would not ordinarily get due to his limited income, said there is great need for events like Food Share.
“Looks like we have a really good turn out here,” he said.
Even thought the event was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., event organizers decided to start a early due to the amount of traffic gathering on Ward Basin Road.
Although the number of vehicles − waiting to receive the food items − dwindled shortly before noon, a neighboring church offered their support incase food supplies ran out. The Dawn Assembly of God Church offered to hand out food boxes to those unable to benefit from the Farm Share event.
Pastor Brad Odom said the church would do what they could in order to help area residents in need.
“We are all about the community and helping out,” Odom said. “We believe the community is a big part of what we do, we are commanded in scripture to go out and touch people’s lives through the gospel.”
Odom was not surprised about seeing the early turnout at the event, in which he and several church members helped volunteer with.
“It’s the poverty stricken area of Santa Rosa County, the homelessness rate is high in this area,” Odom said. “It’s astonishing to see the needs in this area, being how it is such a rural area.”
Broxson anticipates working with Farm Share in order to bring more food distribution events not only to East Milton, but to other areas within the county in the very near future.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Volunteers show community support during food distribution (PHOTOS)