By Starr Munro Riverbend News
A group of individuals in Suwannee County are doing what they can for their community and by distributing over 50,000 pounds of food a month, they have also created a fellowship that fuels a powerful outreach 10 years strong.
If you were to get up early to visit Suwannee River State Park or Falmouth Springs on the second or fourth Saturday of any given month, you'd probably be shocked by the bumper to bumper line-up of vehicles. Near Falmouth Springs at the "The Old Falmouth Store," the location serves as a place to distribute food to families in need. Since January of last year, these citizens have expanded their volunteer work to an extra Wednesday morning as well, distributing food to more than 300 families each month.
These citizens of Live Oak have created an outreach using established food networks that assist in ventures like theirs, organizations like Farm Share and the Florida Gateway Food Bank. Their impressive numbers in how many people they are able to reach out to and their high level of organization has been a direct result from steady growth over the past 10 years. That steady growth is a product of the faith, love and gospel that is shared along with the boxes of food they pass out.
Gary Watson is the one you'll find out there, whether the sun is shining high or nowhere to be seen. At one point it was only one man’s efforts before the dream of what the Mt. Gilead Baptist Church food ministry is today finally came into reality. Ten years ago he could be seen with just a single table set up by the dumpsite in Falmouth, with four or five boxes of food to pass out to those in need. Since then, he's established ties with food banks in Florida that drop off anywhere from 12,000 to 14,000 pounds of food each month. The volunteers that have rallied and extended their arms hundreds of times to pass out food all have full-time jobs and their own lives but a calling to help their fellow brother or sister keeps them coming out month after month and with good spirits.
For the past several years, "the old store" has served them well, just by being a place that people can count on for some compassion as well as food security. No matter what the situation was or what was needed, people have been able to pull up and get what they needed without judgment. Now their "small operation" is finding a new home, with the concrete slab it will one day rest on already poured. To have their own facilities has always been well-deserved, and the folks that make up Mt. Gilead Baptist Church food ministry have a new chapter coming up very soon. They are still accepting donations to put towards their new building, please call (386) 362-3782 if you would like to donate time, materials or funds for their new facilities or cause.