Marsh Creek 2025 Thanksgiving Food Drive Delivers…!

The final 2 bags arrived just as the delivery convoy was leaving the Fiddlers Point Drive collection point on Monday. And when all were unloaded at the Homeless Coalition’s Chapin Street campus, 63 bags of food and household staples were in minutes carried off and distributed to doorsteps of 23 homes around the 5-acre grounds in the heart of West St. Augustine in time for Thanksgiving dinners. A local church supporting March Creek’s efforts is donating turkeys to each of the families on site.

Donors were encouraged to also consider cash gifts in addition to, or in lieu of, food donations and many did. An additional 16 bags of food were collected and delivered separately to a St. Augustine veterans’ home.

“Marsh Creek residents responded wonderfully to this food drive, and It has been one of the most rewarding ones yet”, said Louise Nelson, one of the two principal Spoonbill Neighbors organizers with Melody Ness.

In the year since the community’s last Thanksgiving food drive, the Homeless Coalition has made enormous strides under the leadership of Debi Redding, a former AT&T manager who has been steering its growth for a decade and a half. A successful new fundraising effort has boosted available housing from 20 to 23 units with 18 more in the planning stage. Two new food storage lockers, a cement driveway and basketball court have been added. And work is underway on a new 1800 sq. ft. office that will free up 2 additional buildings for temporary housing.

Homeless families at the Chapin street location, often mothers with grown children, pay $850 a month in rent and are provided counseling to help qualify for suitable employment and encouragement to build savings and stabilize their lives for independent living. The average stay is 3 years. All the furniture, household items and toys are donated from the community.

The historic railroad homes sit around a comfortable campus playground now boasting a gazebo, slides and plenty of grass for kids to romp. A children’s learning center, computer room and laundry facility complete the services offered to homeless families.

To fulfill its future growth plans, the Homeless Coalition is tapping government grants and has launched a “$1000 by 1000” fundraising drive to boost the total number of available homes to 40. Donations can be made directly on the Coalition’s website.