Jaguars punter Logan Cooke helped families affected by childhood cancer enjoy a shopping spree inside a Winn-Dixie in Jacksonville's Arlington neighborhood on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. Winn-Dixie and the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund combined to provide groceries to 31 families during the middle of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
Published on September 15, 2026 at 3:23 pm
Free local news and info, in your inbox at 6 a.m. M-F. Sign up for the Jacksonville Today newsletter.
Shanna and John Martell know their children will be fed this fall.
Their middle child, Gio, was diagnosed with Stage IV Neuroblastoma earlier this year. The Martells are Jacksonville residents who are among the thousands of families across the United States whose finances have been upended by a diagnosis.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
A troika of Northeast Florida organizations — Winn-Dixie, The Tom Coughlin Jay Fund and The Players Championship — collaborated to provide food to 31 families devastated by childhood cancer this month.
Food for families
The Sept. 8 event inside a Winn-Dixie in Arlington coincided with both Hunger Awareness Month and Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
“Financially, things are not easy. Everything is expensive,” Shanna Martell says. “Just because we got sick and we’re hospital-bound and we’re not able to work, everything keeps coming. Bills still gotta get paid. Groceries still need to get made. I have two other children. Having The Jay Fund and The Players come together and do something so special, we don’t have to worry about groceries. We can focus on what matters — and that’s Gio.”
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
Martell has a phrase tattooed near her left collarbone that may serve as a reminder of this season: Walk by faith, not by sight.
The Martells were among the 10 families that went on a $2,000 shopping spree at Winn-Dixie. Twenty-one other families received grocery gift cards. The total number of families was an homage to the late Jay McGillis.
The Coughlin family created The Jay Fund to honor the former safety who wore No. 31 for Coughlin when he coached at Boston College. Over the last 31 years, it has supported families facing childhood cancer by helping them pay household bills.
Impact of medical debt and food insecurity
In an August 2025 article published in the Journal of Pediatrics, physicians at the Harvard Medical School, Boston Children’s Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and elsewhere found families with medical debt were four times more likely to face food insecurity than families without medical debt.
“There have been times where we’ve had to put our finances in front of us and say: ‘Ok, we can afford this medication or we can afford this dinner option,'” Martell says. “We have already had to come to that decision and ask: ‘What’s more important?’
“It’s such an emotional thing to talk about it. It’s hard. You don’t want to have to pick and choose what kid comes first. ‘They need to eat. He needs to eat. He needs medications.’ You put everything in front of you and, God willing, everything always works out. I’m just so grateful for that.”
Martell was in foster care and adopted twice. Family and community have helped her and helped her son amid his diagnosis. Gio, less than 24 hours after his latest hospital stay, was joined by his siblings and multiple cousins on their grocery store adventure.
Jaguars captains Logan Cooke and Ross Matiscik spent their day off strolling around an Arlington Winn-Dixie helping families select the beef, shrimp, rice, detergent, diapers and other household staples that will last them throughout the fall. They were joined by a kicker whose surname is Little, but his heart for children is anything but.
“My son is so much more than his diagnosis,” Martell says. “What defines him is his personality. His smile. He loves (being) outdoors, four-wheelers, camping and fishing. He is an outdoor boy. He loves to be dirty. Ultimately, I hope everyone knows my kid as Gio, not the kid with cancer.”
Gio turns 3 on Oct. 7. His mother looks forward to his becoming a “threenager.”
The Association Between Medical Debt and Food Insecurity among US Families with Children concluded middle-income families, which they define as families that earn between 200% and 400% of the federal poverty designation, that face childhood illnesses need more support.
Breakthroughs to break bread
That is where The Jay Fund assists.
This month was the third time The Jay Fund has partnered with The Players Championship to provide a grocery run.
A majority of the families it serves in Jacksonville self-describe as food insecure. An internal survey found 73% of the families it serves face nonmedical family expenses increasing by more than $250 a month. Meanwhile, 93% of Jay Fund families face a decrease in household income.
Its CEO, Keli Coughlin, says providing families with an opportunity to load up on groceries means they do not have to make tough decisions between paying for food, paying for gas or paying for prescriptions.
“We all see the rising prices that have gone on,” Coughlin says. “We hear more and more from families that they are in need of food. We know that at least half of our families have a parent who has to stop working to become a full-time caregiver. That, obviously, means their income is going down at the same time their expenses are going up. … We know this is something they need, and we’re proud to be able to partner with The Players and Winn-Dixie and be able to be there for them in this way.”
Winn-Dixie Regional Vice President Greg Stanford says it was a natural partnership to collaborate with The Tom Coughlin Jay Fund and The Players Championship to provide food access to families facing cancer.
“Most families that go through childhood cancer, they see a reduced income,” Stanford says. “The father or the mother, in some cases both, are there full time to be there for their child. For us to be able to provide a little hope for them in their life, it really does mean the world to us. It’s an easy fit for us organizationally giving back to the community.
For these 10 local families, seeing them walk around the store, and shopping, and the things they are getting — we’re not getting luxury items, we’re getting basic core needs — that makes us feel great.”
Skyrocketing food prices
Food insecurity is a more palatable phrase for hunger. There are hundreds of people in Duval County who are unsure where their next meal will arrive due to medical costs.
Feeding Northeast Florida CEO Susan King says Hunger Action Month is an opportunity to shine a light around what hunger looks like in this region.
Food-at-home prices in June of this year were the highest in a decade, according to data released by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that food-at-home prices for August were flat compared to July, but 2.2% higher than August 2025. Prices for household staples like meat, poultry, fish and eggs increased in August, compared to July.
Prices may continue to climb.
Diesel prices in the United States hit record highs last weekend. Considering most food that arrives at grocery stores is delivered via a diesel-fueled truck, consumers may soon see even higher prices heading into the fall.
Shortly after the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed its Consumer Price Index for the month on Friday morning, hundreds gathered inside UNF Arena to provide the hands and feet in the quest to eradicate local hunger.
9/11 Day Jacksonville brought 1,000 people from some of the region’s largest employers to package red lentil jambalaya. Together, they packaged meals and donated them to Feeding Northeast Florida.
The event was designed to commemorate the 9/11 attacks through acts of service, compassion and unity.
“There is a food insecurity problem across the country,” 9/11 Day Jacksonville lead organizer Michelle Gilliam said. “Food prices are soaring, and this way we can put together about 360,000 meals that’s going directly to Feeding Northeast Florida. It’s staying in our community. These are Northeast Florida residents. They are feeding Northeast Florida residents.”
