Georgia Patrick says food distribution drives like the one that took place at Calvary Baptist Church on Dunn Avenue on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025, will allow her family to eat this month. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
Published on November 5, 2025 at 4:32 pm
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Dozens lined up in the shadows of a church. They needed food.
The sustenance was for themselves, for their children, for their neighbors.
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A federal judge may have opened up an avenue for temporary funding for SNAP, the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program, earlier this week. But, on Wednesday morning in Jacksonville, scores of people could not wait for federal systems to satiate their personal need for food.
Feeding Northeast Florida held Wednesday’s food distribution event outside Calvary Baptist Church. Oranges, corn, cabbage, lettuce, eggs and chicken were distributed.
Georgia Patrick was among the first people in line at Calvary Baptist Church. She is a mother of five school-aged children who is a participant in SNAP.
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“It’s hard,” Patrick said as she placed vegetables in a box. “It’s definitely hard. I can’t feed my kids. I gotta worry about what I’m going to feed them next month, and then before. The holidays are coming up and we got a big family.”
Patrick was among about 100 people who knew to be in line at the church on Dunn Avenue. Not every SNAP recipient knows about resources like Wednesday’s distribution.
Local leaders step forward
That is why the city of Jacksonville announced the Duval Care Coalition on Wednesday morning. It was designed as a hub where Jaxsons can identify and locate local churches and nonprofits that are providing food.
Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan was incensed at the thought that children and senior citizens have less access to food today than they did last week.
According to data compiled by the city, nearly 160,000 Jaxsons use SNAP benefits.
It’s most concentrated in Downtown and pockets of Northwest Jacksonville. Deegan stressed on Wednesday there is no stereotype of someone who utilizes hunger assistance.
“When SNAP benefits are cut, the pain ripples far beyond the checkout line, because the face of hunger is not abstract,” Deegan said. “It’s our neighbors. It’s our kids, our seniors, our teachers, our veterans and our working parents.”
Since the SNAP benefits expired Nov. 1, individuals and organizations have sought to feed their neighbors.
Jacksonville law firm Pajcic & Pajcic donated $20,000 to the Riverside Arts Market to help those with SNAP benefits purchase food and produce from farmers and vendors.
The Bethel Church in Downtown created a Showing Neighborly Acts of Provision program where people who use the SNAP program — regardless of their membership at the Bethel — can visit on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and receive free food.
Bethel’s first distribution date will be Monday, because this Tuesday is Veterans Day.
SNAP in Jacksonville
City Council member Ken Amaro acknowledged there are no easy answers to the loss of SNAP funds. In his district, which includes Arlington, 20.6% of households utilize SNAP — the third-highest of the city’s 14 council districts.
Amaro has witnessed the food lines on weekends for months. He says the food insecurity spurred by the expiration of SNAP benefits reminds him of a New Testament passage, where feeding hungry people, whether neighbors or strangers, is an act of faith and service.
“One of my many life lessons has been that just like death, just like cancer, hunger doesn’t care where you live,” Amaro says. “Hunger doesn’t care about your gender. Hunger doesn’t care about your age. It’s unapologetic. And, it will afflict you in such a manner that it will steal your dignity while you are fighting for your own survival.
“And when government is no longer by the people and for the people, we end up with communities like mine, District 1, and all the other 14 City Council districts — some not as impacted as much as (District 10, District 9 and District 1) — where households are living in fear of hunger.”
In District 9, which is portions of the Westside, a quarter of all households (24.7%) use the program. In council member Ju’Coby Pittman’s district, nearly a third of all households (30.8%) utilize SNAP.
Wednesday morning, Toye Martin’s voice cracked inside the City Hall atrium. Martin lives near the Ribault River and has received SNAP benefits since the summer.
Martin visited Virginia late last year to care for her mother, the late Sarah Taylor, in her final months. When Martin returned to Jacksonville, she did not have a job waiting for her. She applied for the SNAP benefits to access food as she sought work.
“I not only eat off the EBT, with my leftovers, I help feed my neighborhood,” Martin says. “I have 20 people that I feed on every Sunday. Now, I’m not able to do that. My leftovers, I put them in freezer bags, so I will be able to eat next month.”
Back at the Baptist church on the Northside, some of the people who waited said they were picking up food for their neighbors and others in their personal village who were unable to make it to Dunn Avenue.
There is a need. In the 32218 ZIP code, where Calvary Baptist is situated, 17.4% of households rely on SNAP benefits.
Patrick says it means a lot to her that people and organizations have stepped forward.
“We can all eat together and we can support each other,” Patrick says. “We are one.”
