Two Leon County Sherrif Officers providing a resident with a bulk of food items.
Cierra Richardson | The Famuan
In the wake of Hurricane Michael, many residents in Tallahassee were without power and forced to throw out perishable items. In hopes to assist and bring relief to families, the Leon County Sheriff’s Office hosted its annual Farm Share distribution event.
This event took place Thursday as the LCSO teamed up with Living Stones International to allow families the opportunity to pick up free food, water, and fruit juices.
Public Information Officer and LCSO Deputy Dave Teems believes this event helped families to get back on their feet after the devastating storm.
“This event is very important to the people of Tallahassee and Leon County because when events like this happen and people lose power, groceries are expensive,” said Teems.
“So anytime we can go through and help people refill those and get their lives back on track is very important," he added.
For residents who lost power, this event served as a way to bring the community together and provide them with bulk food items.
Alex Enger, a local resident who lost power during the storm, says this year’s event, gathering food items was beneficial for him. He is currently unable to attend work.
“It is [this event] very important. I work for Day Labor and I haven’t been able to get out to work in about two weeks,” said Enger.
Dozens of food items bags provided for residents who attended the Farm share distribution event.
Cierra Richardson | The Famuan
Through the distribution event, Enger is able to provide for his family and feels that the items he received will make up for the items he lost as a result of the storm.
“I have some chicken, some juices, potatoes, mostly refrigerated items we lost during this storm. All that stuff had to be thrown out,” said Enger.
This event served residents through two options, a drive-thru assembly line and a walk through area for residents walking or traveling via bus.
Hundreds of vehicles lined up for the event as they were greeted by the LCSO as they placed food items inside of their vehicles.
While Farm Share distribution is an annual event, this year was unlike any other.
Teems said that although the food distribution began promptly at 8 a. m, the first vehicle lined up as early as 2 a.m.
“The first person got in line around 2:30 to 2:45 this morning. The line went from Municipal Way, down to Appleyard Drive, down to Jackson Bluff and then went all the way and curled back up to Pensacola Street, “ said Teems. “We always have a lot of cars, but I think we had even more this time around.”
A volunteers Farm Share T-Shirt.
Cierra Richardson | The Famuan
LSCO and Living Stones International provided over 36,000 pounds of food to the Tallahassee community. Through the event, not only were residents able to take items home but volunteers were able to practice the art of giving back to their community.
Anne Floyd-Lucas, a volunteer with Living Stones and Farm Share, said she gained from giving back at the event.
“Helping others, unity, we made it. God is good,” said Lucas.
By providing relief to the community post-Hurricane Michael, LSCO and Living Stones were able to help hundreds of families.