JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Since we began broadcasting nearly 72 years ago, WJXT has championed efforts to make Jacksonville and our larger viewing area better.
Eight years ago, we solidified the station’s efforts under the umbrella of Positively Jax. On this anniversary, we are recommitting to our monthly and quarterly goals for helping with community projects and, at every opportunity possible, shining a light on people and groups making a difference.
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Some people we feature help through organized volunteerism, some just saw a need and came up with a way to help, and some seized an opportunity to perform a random act of kindness. (We call them #RandomJaxOfKindness.)
The hope is that by sharing these good deeds, you’ll be inspired to take the wheel and do your part to make our community a better place to live and raise a family.
“We started Positively Jax because we knew how important it was to tell stories about all the wonderful things happening in our community,” WJXT CEO and General Manager Bob Ellis said. “And we also wanted to be the television station in town that supported and helped the community by identifying and supporting people and organizations in a meaningful way on a consistent basis. It was an intentional way to live our brand as The Local Station.”
Through the efforts of News4Jax along with community organizations and dedicated citizens, over the eight years of Positively Jax we’ve:
| 🍽️ Helped Second Harvest Food Bank serve 20,000 meals | 📝 Shredded 167 tons (334,000 lbs.) of paper to stop identity theft |
| 💓 Hosted free medical care events for 4,000+ adults on Take It to Heart Days (150 lives saved) | 🎖️ Collected 42,000 snack and personal care items for the USO Welcome Center at the Jacksonville airport |
| 🧸 Collected & distributed toys for over 25,000 children at Jacksonville Christmas Party | 🤝🏼 Organized over 50 volunteer locations for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service |
| 👟 Collected & distributed 12,000+ pairs of new shoes for children going back to school | 🦷 Collaborated with Florida Dental Association on 5,000 free dental procedures for 2,900 patients (Services valued at $2.7 million) |
| 🚶♀️ Hosted over 100,000 walkers to raise over $8.5 million for the Annual Heart walk | 🚶 Rallied over 23,000 walkers to raise over $2.4 million for The March of Dimes |
| 🎁 Collected over 11,000 Shoeboxes of Love | 🏊🏾 Helped YMCA provide swimming tests to over 6,000 children |
“When you step back after eight years and tally the totals of what’s been accomplished, it’s incredible,” Ellis said. “The staff at News4JAX has taken this idea and exceeded all expectations. I could not be prouder of this group of people. We’ve literally helped thousands of our neighbors in hundreds of ways, big and small. In the process, we’ve shown our willingness to roll our sleeves up and do the real work to make Jacksonville a better place to live. It feels amazing.”
For eight years, News4Jax has regularly featured stories about people and groups who are making a Positively Jax difference in our community. Each month, in collaboration with our sponsors, we’ve honored an individual or group that isn’t getting enough credit for the good works they are doing.
Here’s just a trio of nearly 100 Positively Jax honorees (so far):
- Taylor Scheibe, a childhood cancer survivor who we honored in 2013 for organizing toy drives for children hospitalized with cancer. We featured her again in 2018 for bringing the Halloween spirit to patients at Wolfson Children’s Hospital.
- Mama Audrey, a 2019 winner who collects food, shoes, blankets, sweaters and more for people who don’t have families.
- 12-year-old Hannah Hall, who despite the pandemic, distributed about 300 coats and 400 masks to people in need in December 2020.
On Thursday, as we celebrate eight years of Positively Jax, celebrating what has been accomplished, we’re looking to do even more and we want your help. Tell us (or better yet show us) how Positively Jax has touched your life. This could be a story that moved you to get involved in our community or a local effort that had a direct impact on either you or your loved ones.
“We want others to join this movement and experience this same tremendous joy and sense of accomplishment,” Ellis said.