Jacksonville — Guardian Catholic School received 400 bags of food for every student in the school from The Jim and Tabitha Furyk Foundation on Friday. The Jacksonville-based foundation donated 5,000 bags of food to Jacksonville students at risk of food insecurity this holiday season.
Guardian Catholic School was among those to receive a bag filled with shelf stable food to ensure that families would not go hungry during the extended Christmas break.
Sister Dianne, Head of School for Guardian Catholic School, described the gesture as a blessing for every student in the school, from Pre K-3 to 8th Grade.
“Food insecurity is such a problem in our community and we never really know the impact it’s making on our households,” she said. “So to have 400 of our children take home this gift bag of food from the Furyk Foundation is going to make a very significant difference in their lives.”
Sister Dianne said she remains in awe of the generosity of others as she described the morning as a touching moment of watching those give something that will truly impact the lives of others.
“God is good in all of these people who are making connections and reaching out,” she said.
Julia Zimmerman, Director of Advancement for Guardian Catholic School, added that the gesture is meaningful for students who struggle with food insecurity.
“The two zip codes that our students mostly come from are both in the top 10 zip codes with the highest poverty rates in the whole state of Florida,” she said. “We are extremely grateful to the Jim and Tabitha Furyk Foundation for including Guardian Catholic School in this giveaway.”
“The fact that Jim and Tabitha Furyk Foundation is doing this in this community shows that they really have a grasp of what the true needs are and of the impact that a gift like food can make in many, many households,” continued Sister Dianne. “We are so very appreciative to everyone who helped.”
Cox Media Group volunteers were also on hand to assist with delivering and staging the bags to surprise the students as they returned from church.
The annual event, now in its 10th year, partnered with the likes of the Constellation FURYK & FRIENDS presented by Circle K, AT&T, PepsiCo, Target and Conagra Brands to include stuffing, corn, green beans, noodles, pasta sauce, ramen, canned sausage, hot cocoa, candy canes, cereal, Slim Jim’s, cookies and Rice-a-Roni in reusable blue bags.
“We are so truly grateful to the Jim and Tabitha Furyk Foundation for helping us today spread the hope that is their purpose to families in our community through their gift of food,” concluded Sister Dianne.
The Jim and Tabitha Furyk Foundation also used the giveaway to establish a volunteer experience for local private and public school who packed bags with their families for students identified as food insecure in Duval and St. Johns Counties.
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