Jacksonville organizations team up to give back to Durkeeville families ahead of Thanksgiving

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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Two Jacksonville organizations teamed up Wednesday just before the holidays to make sure as many families as possible get their Thanksgiving dinner.

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It’s now been 6 years since Aneesha Daniels adopted her four grandchildren, taking them in as her own, and Aneesha will tell you it isn’t always easy, especially when the holiday season rolls around.

“I’m 47, I’ll be 48 in a couple of weeks, imagine that … raising kids from 19 to 47 and you the stronghold of the whole household for everyone and everything,” Daniels highlighted to Action News Jax Wednesday. “For you to have to pay for [Thanksgiving dinner] and not count the ingredients that are going on, the cheese, the eggs, the butter, all of it expensive.”

Aneesha’s financial struggles aren’t uncommon in Jacksonville’s Durkeeville community. That’s why Wednesday morning, the MalaVai Washington Youth Foundation and Harvey’s Supermarkets teamed up to deliver over 220 combined holiday meals to families in need like Aneesha’s - battling food insecurity a turkey and Thanksgiving meal at a time, all in the spirit of the season of giving.

“There are, there’s a lot of food insecurity here in Jacksonville amongst some of our families,” MalaVai Washington explained. “So if we can provide a meal, turkey, several bags of groceries for families, I think it’s a good thing to do around the holidays and to support our families.”

For those interested in volunteering for future opportunities to give back or interested in the year-round services the MalaVai Washington Foundation has to offer, you can find all that info by clicking the link here.

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