Eagles Serving Jacksonville Helps Nine Local Organizations

Ms. Rizzi, Mr. Washburn and 11 students served those in need in the Jacksonville community last week as part of the inaugural Eagles Serving Jacksonville service trip. The group volunteered at nine different non-profit organizations throughout Jacksonville. The organizations’ missions, in part, address food insecurity. The non-profits included: Farm Share, B.E.A.M. (Beaches Emergency Assistance Ministry), UCOM Urban Serv Inc., The Food Park Project, Clara White Mission, Trinity Rescue Mission, Waste Not Want Not, White Harvest Farms and Feeding Northeast Florida.

“Mr. Washburn and I are very proud of our students and the work they did last week; some days were harder than others. They never complained, got their hands dirty and finished every project asked of them by each of the non-profits,” commented Ms. Rizzi, who planned and organized the backyard service trip.

The week included serving the homeless, rescuing food, doing yard work, clearing brush, trimming trees, creating urban gardens, ripping up carpet, and constructing a water level to mark the contours on a slope that will hold water and mitigate erosion.

Sara Mitchell, Executive Director of UCOM commented, “Your students did amazing work. They are self-thinkers which is such an asset for us. They are invited to come and volunteer again anytime!”

Riley McGee ’19 shared about the experience: “Taking a week to really take a step back and help out those in our community was very eye-opening to me while I learned about issues we have right here in Jacksonville. The whole week from helping at Farm Share on Monday to packaging and sorting foods at Feeding Northeast Florida on Friday really gave me a better perspective of how many issues there still are for us to solve in our city. If what we did at any of the non-profits we went to makes a small difference in one family’s life that makes the whole week worth it.”