BAKER — This month, after more than two years' planning and searching for funding, Catholic Charities of Northwest Florida will begin monthly food distribution for needy North Okaloosa County residents.
The nonprofit considered Baker and Laurel Hill for distribution. A Crestview Rotary Club grant and the Baker Area Recreation Center’s offer of free facility use facilitated opening a Baker site, caseworker R.J. Johnson said.
Food distribution — first-come, first-served — begins at 3 p.m. every second Tuesday at the Baker Area Recreation Center. A photo ID is required.
Staffers also will be available to help qualifying residents apply for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, organizers said.
UNDERSERVED AREA
Pat Hollarn, a former Catholic Charities board member and the Crestview Rotary Club's treasurer, said the grant the local club received from Rotary International was “a bit less” than they had applied for.
“We applied for more, but we only got $1,500, which we are expected to match in kind with labor and goods,” Hollarn said. “It isn’t enough to go through the year, but with other fundraisers we’re going to undertake, I think we’ll have enough to last the whole year.”
Catholic Charities hopes to also open monthly distribution in Laurel Hill, most likely at Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church, which has offered its facilities, Johnson said.
“Right now we are starting in Baker,” Johnson said. “Depending on funding and the need and response, we may rotate locations.”
Catholic Charities also organizes fourth-Tuesday food distribution at St. Margaret’s of Scotland church in DeFuniak Springs.
The north county site will serve an underserved population that can't get to the organization’s Fort Walton Beach food distributions, Hollarn said.
“It was so difficult for some of those people to get to the Fort Walton Beach area,” she said. “I think we will have people waiting for us when we open.”
WANT TO GO?
WHAT: Catholic Charities food distribution for needy families
WHEN: 3 p.m. second Tuesdays beginning Oct. 14
WHERE: Baker Area Recreation Center, 5503 Highway 4
COST: Free
NOTES: Photo ID required. Food distributed first-come, first-served. Staff available to help families register for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
EmailNews Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitteror call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Monthly food distribution beginning in Baker