On Friday morning, a team of Spoonbill Neighbor volunteers gathered up more than 40 heavy bags of provisions that Marsh Creekers had dropped off at the Nelson and Ness “Depots” in the past two weeks.

The response was so great and so generous that even a second round of red bags wasn’t enough to meet the demand of those wanting to help.

These staples, along with other donations delivered to the Homeless Coalition headquarters, will provide Thanksgiving Dinner ingredients and much more for 23 needy families living in transitional housing in the vicinity of 62 Chapin Street in West St. Augustine.

The Homeless Coalition Executive Director, Debi Redding, says the organization has other high priority items in short supply needed to assist these families to establish themselves in their temporary homes.

Those are: door mats, lawn rakes, cleaning supplies, indoor and outdoor trash bins, and shower curtains and rods.

Officially, Emergency Services Homeless Coalition of St. Johns County provides innovative programs to assist the most chronic homeless families with children to get off the street and on the road to self-sufficiency.

Transitional Housing is the completion of a process that guides homeless people into permanent housing. The program requires the clients to seek job training, employment, continuing education, assessment counseling and permanent housing.

Almost without exception, when the clients leave the program, they are moving into their own apartments.

(https://homelesscoalitionstjohns.com).

If you’d like to visit the facilities firsthand or drop off additional donations, or become a volunteer, their address is 62 Chapin Street.

Your kindness will provide a brighter Thanksgiving holiday for the less fortunate in our larger community.

Happy Thanksgiving!