Giving Back to the Community | Palatka Daily News, Palatka, Florida

IHS students plan, carry out project to feed residents

JROTC cadets at Interlachen High School gather food last week to give to families in need for a community service project at First Baptist Church of Interlachen.
An Interlachen JROTC cadet sorts food to be given out to the community.
JROTC cadets at Interlachen High School gather food last week to give to families in need for a community service project at First Baptist Church of Interlachen.
Positively Putnam FL

INTERLACHEN – High school JROTC cadets spent Friday giving back to the community during a food drive community service project.

Cadets from Interlachen High School helped feed more than 200 families at First Baptist Church of Interlachen, and Principal Brian Helms said it worked out well.

“They decided they wanted to do that, which I thought was a (good) thing,” he said. “… It’s a great way to get out in the community.”

Helms said he thought it was good for students to see the need in their community.

Nealon Sears Jr., the senior Army instructor for the JROTC program, said students typically do at least two events per year, and last week, they put together an anti-vaping campaign at the school.

The students are responsible for planning and executing all projects they do, and Sears said Friday’s food donation event took a month to plan. Food was provided by Feeding Northeast Florida, and 28 students spent four hours volunteering at the church, the instructor said.

“It was an excellent, excellent event,” said Sears, who has been teaching in the JROTC program since 2018.

Families who received the food were grateful and church parishioners and the pastor complimented the group on their hard-working spirits and efforts, Sears said.

“I was like-a-proud father,” he said.