JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who once said everyone can be great because everyone can serve. As our way of honoring Dr. King’s legacy on the national day of service, News4Jax and Feeding Northeast Florida hosted a food drive on Monday.
This food drive is one piece of our brand new Random Jax of Kindness initiative. The idea is for us all come together to do 1,000 good deeds around town and then share them with the Jacksonville community. So sign up and take the pledge to make a difference this year.
SIGN UP: Take the pledge to be Positively Jax in 2021
From 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, we collected your donations of canned vegetables and fruits, cereal and other non-perishable items at our studio located at 4 Broadcast Place in San Marco. We had a huge turnout, with donations filling the lobby, stairwell, hallways and almost our entire promotions department. Thank you for caring so much about this community and for sharing with us your reasons for doing it.
“I recently lost my husband and I had a lot of people be very generous to me -- family, friends, work family -- and I just wanted to pay it forward today,” said Bonnie Chase. “I saw it on the news this morning and thought it would be a good.”
“Well, I thought I did something great when I did the MLK parade today,” another person who donated said. “But I was at home, watching TV just now, and I saw the need, so I got up and went and did something about it.”
“I’ve had people who have helped me and my family when we’ve been in a time of need,” said a beaches resident. “And when God gives you the extra funds, and you’re, like, ‘Oh, I could go buy something for myself.’ But you stop and you say, ‘You know what? I need to bless someone else because I’ve been blessed when I’ve had nothing.’”
Our General Manager Bob Ellis said he knows we have a generous community but he never expected the turnout for the food drive to be so tremendous. This is just the beginning of News4Jax’s campaign to share 1,000 good deeds happening in our community and inspire others to join.
Press play below to hear more from Ellis about the campaign:
Couldn’t make it over to the station? No problem. Donations can also be made online through Feeding Northeast Florida’s virtual food drive. Just swipe the items you’d like to donate from the virtual store shelves, then head over to the checkout to finalize your purchase. It’s as simple as that.
Whether you took part in the food drive or are doing your part some other way, we’d like to hear from you. Upload a photo of your good deeds to SnapJax or drop us a line. Then stay tuned as we share stories about the people and groups who inspire us to be Positively Jax.