Frozen turkeys, fresh milk and produce and other staples are on tables at the Mandarin Food Bank's annual Thanksgiving giveaway on Monday, Nov. 24, 2025. | Dan Scanlan, Jacksonville Today
Published on November 24, 2025 at 3:45 pm
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Mark Novak watched as volunteers loaded a frozen turkey, pie, milk and holiday fixings into his friend’s minivan, as others also in need of a Thanksgiving meal lined up nearby early Monday at the Mandarin Food Bank.
His cancer now in remission, but unable to work, Novak said he needed help to bring Thanksgiving to his family when he came to the food bank’s 35th annual Thanksgiving giveaway.
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“Everything’s just real tough and my truck was broke, and I am helping my daughter and grandkids,” he said.
“It’s just awesome. It means the world to just get some help. I was not sure how I was going to feed them,” Novak said. “This is my first time. We got here an hour and a half before. Even after an hour and a half, there’s still quite a line, but it is still well worth it.”
The food bank on Old St. Augustine Road has aided people in need for over three decades with monthly food and financial help, as well as Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets with turkeys and all the trimmings for holiday meals.
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This year’s Thanksgiving need was a bit higher than last year, likely boosted by the recent record 43-day federal government shutdown that also halted Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, organizers said.
Losing SNAP benefits were very tough for Wendy Milan. She is on Social Security disability with her husband who has had medical issues. They had already been coming to the food bank over the past decade for help, before their SNAP stopped.
“This helps us tremendously, to have a Thanksgiving between just the two of us,” she said, talking about the lack of SNAP aid. “… It was bigger. We suffered from it and it was a shame. Some of the states got it, and we didn’t, and I think that was not a good thing.”
Hundreds of people lined up early on Monday, Nov. 24, as the Mandarin Food Bank’s 35th annual Thanksgiving giveaway began. | Dan Scanlan, Jacksonville Today
Mandarin’s food bank for 35 years
The volunteer-run Mandarin Food Bank is on the campus of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church at Old St. Augustine and Loretto roads, started by Bonnie Arnold in 1991 in a 900-square-foot building that has been expanded over the years.
The need in Mandarin has mostly risen since its inception, going from 366 Thanksgiving baskets given in 2009, to about 550 in 2016. In 2018, 420 baskets were distributed, followed by 440 in 2019 and 423 three years ago. About 450 families received this year’s holiday meal basket giveaway, although they prepared for 460. This year’s total was just a bit over last year’s drive, where they prepared 500, Kaminski said.
They prepared more food baskets anticipating the need would be greater after the SNAP benefits pause, food bank Director Mary Kaminski said. And in recent months, the food bank had already seen more families than usual coming in for food donations, financial help or guidance.
“Our weekly total was higher – we were getting close to 20 more families a day then we used to. There was an increase during the shutdown,” Kaminski said as she watched people leaving with fresh holiday food on Monday.
“I feel good about it, and I hope that we make them happy, and that everybody leaves with a smile, and they have a nice Thanksgiving,” Kaminski said. “And because of all the donations and volunteers we have – the community has been overwhelming us with donations – it is nice we were able to give that away and make people happy.”
“That is wonderful – they are such wonderful people,” Milani added. “I have been coming here to the food bank here and I know everybody – everybody knows me, and it’s just joyous. They are giving people.”
Dozens of volunteers from Mandarin High School, Martin J. Gottlieb Day School and other groups made up another line, carrying the heavy turkeys and food to waiting cars. Representatives from the Mandarin Rotary Club, Knights of Columbus and others were inside, including Arnold, who retired a year ago, assembling bags of fresh produce, milk and pies.
And directing traffic safely around the people awaiting or carrying food was Gary Grant, a Mandarin Food Bank client who joined others who volunteer there.
“It’s a great time for the community to come together at a wonderful time of the year when people’s money is short and tight,” he said, adding that he will get some food to bring home after all the cars are gone. “I came as a client, and became a volunteer, just wanting to give back to a great place.”
And thanks to some major donations a week earlier of frozen turkeys, the food bank had 850 in its freezer for Monday’s need, and will have a few hundred left for its annual pre-Christmas giveaway in a month.
“The donations have far exceeded last year, monetarily and product-wise,” Kaminski said. “There’s more turkeys coming in now.”
Where to go
The Mandarin Food Bank’s Christmas giveaway starts at 9 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 22, with plenty of frozen turkeys available as well as about 30 hams, Kaminski said. Food bank office hours are 9 to 11:30 a.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. For information or to make donations, call 904-292-1675 or go to facebook.com/MandarinFoodBank.
