Feeding Northeast Florida gets $500K grant from The Players

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Chantrae Cottingham left a life of alcohol and drug abuse behind when she took a bus from Ohio to Jacksonville over a decade ago in search of a fresh start.

But putting her life back together wasn't easy, especially without a job or car. "I couldn’t even secure a job because I wasn’t eating properly," Cottingham recalled.

That was until Feeding Northeast Florida stepped in to help. The Jacksonville-area food bank provided her with a large crate of food brimming with items from every food group.

Cottingham was among those on hand Tuesday when pro golfer Bill Horschel and The Players gave the food bank a much-needed boost of its own with a $500,000 donation.

That grant will help thousands of families and individuals, people like Cottingham, get back on their feet. In 2017, Feeding Northeast Florida distributed 12.5 million meals. The group can provide six meals for every $1 it receives.

Food insecurity is tragically common in Jacksonville. For instance, it’s estimated that nearly 300,000 people in our community will go to sleep hungry tonight. To put that in perspective, one in every five people does not know where his or her next meal is coming from.

It’s staggering statistics like that figure that first caught the eye of Horschel, who has been working with The Players to raise money for Feeding Northeast Florida since 2014.

Horschel said there’s a misconception that those who receive food assistance are homeless or out of work. In reality, he pointed out, it’s just as often families trying to make ends meet.

“When it comes to providing a roof over the head of the family, providing medicine and food gets left on the backburner,” Horschel said.

Horschel said Cottingham’s story struck a chord with him.

“To hear her story really motivates me to do more because she’s had a hard time and has really done well for herself since moving to Jacksonville,” he said.

Since Cottingham began receiving help, she’s been able to find work as a school crossing guard. She went back to school for her associates degree from Florida State College at Jacksonville. She’s even found time to volunteer at Daily Manna Serving Center, a Riverside food pantry.

“I didn’t have to worry about how I was going to eat,” she said. “It helped me concentrate on work and school and taking care of the small things in between.”

Cottingham said she’s still working through setbacks, having survived a stroke in April 2017. But until she is cleared to work again, she will continue to advocate for Feeding Northeast Florida and the big impact a little help can have on people’s lives.

“I am proof that the generosity of others can truly change a life and save one,” she said. “It saved mine.”