Sharing and Caring

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Farm Share volunteers distribute food to people in need

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  • Local officials volunteer Wednesday at the drive-thru Farm Share distribution in East Palatka.
    Local officials volunteer Wednesday at the drive-thru Farm Share distribution in East Palatka.
  • Local residents volunteer Wednesday at the drive-thru Farm Share distribution in East Palatka.
    Local residents volunteer Wednesday at the drive-thru Farm Share distribution in East Palatka.
  • Cars line up before the event
    Cars line up before the event
  • Local residents volunteer Wednesday at the drive-thru Farm Share distribution in East Palatka.
    Local residents volunteer Wednesday at the drive-thru Farm Share distribution in East Palatka.
  • Positively Putnam FL
    Positively Putnam FL
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A caravan of cars weaved through the Putnam County Fairgrounds on Wednesday with trunks open to accept fresh fruits and vegetables from Farm Share. 

Food drive volunteers distributed more than 500 meals and 50,000 pounds of groceries for free to residents who need extra support during the coronavirus outbreak. 

“This is what we anticipated,” said state Rep. Bobby Payne, R-Palatka. “We’re excited about (the event). People were lined up this morning at 6:30.”

The event was sponsored by Payne, the Rotary Club of Palatka Sunrise, state Sen. Keith Perry, R-Gainesville, and Farm Share, but members from many community organizations were out Wednesday to help Putnam County. 

“I’m a Rotarian and that’s what we do. We serve and help make the community a better place,” Sunrise Rotary member Helen Curtis said. “It’s the community at its best. It comes together.”

Curtis was one volunteer in a line of people passing out food. The food was distributed in a drive-thru style and no one had to make physical contact with anyone else as a coronavirus precaution. She said the good thing about doing the drive-thru food giveaway was no food was wasted because of the Farm Share program. 

With the motto “No person goes hungry. No food goes to waste,” Farm Share partners with Florida farmers to gather produce and meat that are unusable in grocery stores. The only reason the food is considered unsellable is due to blemishes or size, according to farmshare.org. This means 40% of crops are discarded each year. 

Through the organization, 88 million pounds of food were given away in 2019 and more than 17 million households were fed. 

As cars drove through the line of smiling volunteers Wednesday, residents saw county officials delivering their groceries and residents smiled as they expressed their gratitude. Many officials said this was not the first Farm Share event they attended and there have been at least three Farm Share food drives to benefit county residents. 

On Wednesday volunteers served 525 families for more than two hours, with every piece of food being given away. 

“This has evolved into an absolutely outstanding event for the citizens of Putnam County,” County Administrator Terry Suggs said. “This is great.”