JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Halloween will be here before we know it, and EPIC Outreach Farm Rescue is getting ready to celebrate with its upcoming Fall-O-Ween event.
EPIC Outreach is located on Jacksonville’s Northside and has taken in neglected, abandoned, and unloved farm animals for years. The farm currently has more than 70 pigs, horses, donkeys, chickens, bunnies, and dogs. Each animal has its own unique story of how it got to the farm.
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The one thing they have in common is the rescue’s core mission of spreading kindness. Hannah Feran and her colleagues at JWB Real Estate recently spent time volunteering at the farm and helping it get ready for Fall-O-Ween. Feran said the kindness message is one she’ll always get behind.
“It’s huge, kindness is kind of the vein of what I believe in,” Feran said. “To know there’s a nonprofit here in Jacksonville that’s doing that through animals and allowing companies like ourselves to come out and be part of the mission is just heartwarming to the core,” Feran said.
If anyone understands the need to spread a message of love, it’s the EPIC Outreach’s founder, Jessie Miller. After all, EPIC stands for Educating, People, Inspiring Compassion. Miller said, from the start, her goal is to bridge the connection of the human and animal bond.
“When people come out here and find out these animals were once abandoned or unloved or needed a new home for whatever reason, people can connect to that and make that kindness, compassion connection for the animals that are in their lives,” Miller said.
Following back-to-back hurricanes, that message of compassion is extra meaningful. In fact, EPIC Outreach took in two adult pigs and two piglets right before Helene came barreling through. Miller said had they not been rescued; they likely would not have survived.
“They were kind of out towards Palatka, but they were in a space where they were kept in really thick mud,” Miller explained. “They had no ability to get to a dry space and this was right before the hurricane, that was going to pour more water on them. The little babies would have drowned if they had not been pulled out.”
Thankfully, the pigs are safe and getting used to their new surroundings. Feran agrees, that volunteering in this capacity has a way of changing you for the better.
“I think it really brings a full picture of the world being bigger than yourself,” Feran said. “It’s really just a reminder that you’re always going to have your day-to-day and that’s always going to be but to be able to break away and to help a subset of individuals whether it’s a farm, the underserved in our community, it’s important to have that time.”
Miller said the farm sits on seven acres of land, and she hopes to eventually expand. She said this would allow for more rescued animals, more volunteering opportunities, and more visitors.
EPIC Outreach’s Fall-O-Ween event starts on Oct. 26. It starts at 11 a.m. and ends at 1 p.m. It is a family-friendly event and will feature vendors, a food truck, music, face painting, a scavenger hunt, etc. Tickets can be purchased through the website.
