Holly Hill community comes together to help families in need

HOLLY HILL— Ofelia Arias waited in the line of cars Friday at Holly Hill School with her friend and three children. They popped open the trunk, and volunteers filled it with boxes of free groceries.

"This means a lot to me," said Arias, a cashier at Walmart Neighborhood Market in Daytona Beach. "It's a blessing cause they just cut my hours at my job and I'm not on any kind of food assistance."

The free groceries that will help feed her family of six was sponsored by Second Harvest Food Bank and Provision Packs. Before the event started at noon, a line of cars stretched down Center Avenue and Flomich Street. They provided 31,000 pounds of food for 248 families.

"We just wanted to support our community that's in need," said Mallory Cone, a community liaison at Holly Hill School. "They don't even have to get out of the car. We do it all for them."

The boxes of food included crackers, coffee, bottled water, fresh fruits and vegetables, frozen meat and yogurt. Families also received flowers, employment information and children's clothes.

"It's good for us to get extra help with food in the summer," said Bennie Hall, who is currently unemployed and has a family of four to feed. "It's to help feed the family, you know."

"This is our first time doing a large distribution like this," said Carrie Torres, founder of Provision Packs. "It's really a community effort to offer this array of food."

Provision Packs currently serves 270 bags of food to students in need each Friday at five area schools thanks to the help of Second Harvest Food Bank. They are hoping to serve 500 families in need next fall.

"The goal is not just to give them nutritious meals for the weekend but to give them ownership and pride that they get to bring that food home to their family," Torres said. "It also helps to give the parents some relief."

The effort was aided by volunteers from the police department and sheriff's office, various church groups, schools and community businesses to help direct traffic, separate food and distribute it into trunks.

"It's a very rewarding experience to know how much help this will give to a lot of families," said Carol Eaton, a volunteer from Calvary Christian Church. "Our church participates in a lot of activities like this in the community as part of the social ministry."

For Troy Thomas, franchise owner of Liberty Tax in Holly Hill and Port Orange, helping out was a way for him to get out into the community.

"I just like to be personally involved," Thomas said. "We love to do things like this outside of the tax season."

Torres said she hopes that they will be able to do more events like this in the future.

"We just want to take care of each other as a community," Torres said while gesturing to the cluster of volunteers. "It really does take a village."

For more information on Provision Packs, visit provisionpacks.org. For information on Second Harvest Food Bank, visit feedhopenow.org