Free food from Jacksonville store is 'everything' to needy

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Once or twice a week Wayne McNeil heads to the Farm Share warehouse on Jacksonville's Eastside to pick up free produce, meat, eggs, rice and beans and whatever else is available. He takes it back to his church, Pleasant Grove Primitive Baptist on the Northside, where it is distributed to the needy in his community.

The food "means everything" to low-income families trying to make ends meet and seniors living on fixed incomes, he said.

McNeil has been making trips to the Jessie Street food bank warehouse for years and through several management changes. He kept coming, through all the changes, to help his neighbors.

"I'm still here," he said. "You have to be passionate about this.