Thanks to a grant from Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), The Arc Nature Coast was one of 10  Arc chapters selected to execute volunteer projects to 'unite Americans in service' in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  These projects were designed to serve those who are experiencing food insecurity. 

The Arc Nature Coast partnered with Beasley Farms  in Brooksville. Joann and Rolo were great to work with, and helped us to select a wonderful variety of fresh vegetables that we planned to distribute to those in need in our community. 
On Friday, January 13, under the direction of Ms.Gina Hall, more than 35 students from the Fox Chapel Middle School Beta Club ascended upon our Education Center to help us in packaging more than 500 bags of fresh vegetables. What hard workers these young students are! We also had the help of Wings of Service,  a non-profit organization that is dedicated to providing service learning opportunities to children of all ages. It was great to have the parents and students there helping! We also had our wonderful friends, John & Marietta DiRienzo and John Hickman there to help. Participants from our Education Center helped as well and the bags were packed and sorted in just a few short hours!
Each of our four Life Skills Development locations partnered with local food banks to join their volunteers to distribute all these fresh vegetables to those in need. We visited at total of 5 food banks in Hernando and Pasco Counties during the 3rd and fourth weeks in January. Altogether, we delivered nearly 150 cases of fresh fruits and vegetables to more than 500 families in need in Hernando and Pasco counties.We are proud of this accomplishment and can't thank our volunteers enough for all their help. We appreciate the help of The Arc of the United States   for assisting us in securing the funds needed to carry out this project. 
Thank you to all who played a part in this worthwhile project!