JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – For the 25th year, the Clara White Mission in downtown Jacksonville served its annual hot breakfast to the homeless and low-income families.
More than 30 pounds of grits, 60 dozen eggs, 400 biscuits and sausage after sausage were distributed to more than 400 people in need by community volunteers and Clara White staff.
From Lakeland and Orlando to family members in Jacksonville, serving at the Clara White Mission is the Wilsons' way of coming together -- all 20 of them.
“Our family always gets together for the holidays, and I thought it was so important for us -- we’re so blessed to have each other,” volunteer Kandi Wilson said. “I thought it was important for us all to get together and give back to people who are less fortunate.”
Wilson said she's going to make the volunteer effort at the West Ashley Street shelter an annual tradition.
Former reality TV star and White House political aide Omarosa Manigault Newman and her husband, Pastor John Allen Newman, were among those volunteering.
“Getting together, bringing your family down, I think there is no better way to want to give back to this amazing Jacksonville family,” Omarosa Newman said.
Every day for the past 115 years, the Clara White Mission has been a beacon of hope for those in need in Jacksonville.
“Just the need to make sure we help as many as we can with the great work the mission does and to feed them,” Pastor Newman said. “You never know when it is going to be your turn, or your family’s turn, to have some place they need shelter, need a bath, need to be taken care of.”
Those who would like more information about the Clara White Mission can click here.