Drop off locations for any donations:

Palatka

Ameris Bank Hwy 19

100 Florida 19, Palatka

During Business Hours

Chip’s Water Works

701 N. Moody Rd, Palatka

Inside industrial warehouse

HCA Florida Putnam Hospital

611 Zeagler Dr, Palatka

Donation Cart in the Front Lobby

Putnam County School District Office

200 Reid St, Palatka 

During Business Hours

Ameris Bank (Downtown)

601 Reid St, Palatka

During Business Hours

East Palatka

Capital City Bank

148 South Hwy 17, East Palatka

South Putnam

Beulah Baptist Church

106 Beulah Church Rd, Crescent City Wednesdays – afternoon/evening; Fridays - all day; Sundays – 9am - 7pm 

SUMMER SCHOOL IS IN SESSION!

Let's Celebrate Two New Members of our Board!

Dr. Yvette Jones holds a bachelor's degree in health information management, a master's degree in healthcare administration, and a Doctorate in education. She is the Health Information Management Director and Facility Privacy Official at HCA Florida Putnam Hospital. Yvette is an alumna of the Putnam County Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Putnam Class of 2024 and is currently in the 2026 cohort of the Northeast Florida Regional Council’s Regional Leadership Academy. Yvette lives in Palatka with her husband Will, six children, and ten grandchildren. She actively serves her community in several organizations in various capacities. Yvette’s passion for young people leads her to serve as a mentor with Take Stock in Children, Delta Academy & GEMS, and the Palatka Police Athletic League. Yvette is a member of the Rotary Club of Palatka, where she serves as a club advisor for the PJSHS Interact Club and the Rotaract Club of St. Johns River State College, Palatka.

Yvette strives to lead by example and serve selflessly.

Our community cares about our students so much. Big thanks to all who all gave their time, talent, and treasure this month to support our mission.

Woodmen of the World!

House of God Church!

Grace Fellowship Church!

Happy Birthday to our Volunteers!!

Darlene Cason, 6/15

Mike Stallings, 6/14

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT

Vernice Krantz is a fun, hardworking lady. She is devoted to our organization and can always be counted on to get things done. She regularly stops by our donation drop-off locations and brings full carts of food to the warehouse for us. She also cleans up our office facilities every single week. She is always donating food, shopping bags, or anything else she knows we need. Thank you so much for all that you do to keep Putnam student's bellies full!

Why we do what

we do everyday:

Children Facing the Threat of Hunger

There are families struggling to get by in every American community. Nationally, 1 in 7 children face food insecurity, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

But it’s worse in rural America, according to information collected and published annually by the USDA:

• Poverty rates are higher in rural communities, and 84% of U.S. counties with the highest percentage of food insecure children are rural.

• The job market in suburbs and cities has long since recovered from the Great Recession, but job growth remains limited in rural counties and small towns.

• More rural counties also experience “persistent poverty” than urban communities—high rates of poverty over a long period. Nearly 90% of counties experiencing long-term poverty have entirely rural populations.

What makes it harder for kids to get enough to eat in rural communities? Our research showed economic instability and lack of job opportunities is a major factor, along with the relatively few options where families can conveniently shop for food and challenges with transportation—including difficulty getting kids from isolated homes to school or community programs that can provide food.

“When you talk about urban poverty, a lot of times it’s very pocketed, so it’s easier to get services, and there’s community services that already come in,” said Bill Caten, an elementary school principal in rural Virginia. “In rural places, it’s so spread out that kids don’t have access. They can’t walk around the corner to the food kitchen. Some of our kids are left to fend for themselves.”

But there are also reasons to be hopeful. Rural communities have important strengths: strong social ties between people, a deep connection to place and locally-owned businesses. Building on these strengths, we can help address the challenges these children face. Food Insecurity Among Households with Children 25 22 19 Percent 16 13 10 Metro Non-Metro 2001 2005 2009 Year An analysis of Current Population Survey data by Dr. James Ziliak of the University of Kentucky 2013 2017.

Feeding America, 2020