The Children’s Table in Bronson plans to serve around 500 hot meals to the community during its fourth consecutive Thanksgiving Feast on Saturday.
The lunch will take place from 11a.m. to 1 p.m. at The Children’s Table Annex at 9850 State Road 24, Archer, next to the Bronson Speedway. Participants have the option to either sit down and eat or collect the meal in their car like a drive-thru..
During the week of Nov. 9, the nonprofit organization, whose motto is “Caring is our legacy,” received a phone call about families staying at the Extended Stay America Suites in Gainesville who were struggling to get food. The Children’s Table offers emergency food delivery to those who need it and were asked if they could help at all.
On Tuesday, The Children’s Table loaded up their bus and delivered meals for 50 families in need and left another 10 emergency boxes of food for guests who may have missed the dropoff.
That same day, organization volunteers also delivered meals for around 140 families in Steinhatchee, bringing their total to around 200 families fed in just one day.
Every Monday from 10 a.m. to noon 12 p.m., The Children’s Table holds a food distribution where people can get food for the week; the organization suggests a $10 donation to help keep its mission alive, but if people cannot give, they won’t be turned down.
On a typical Monday, The Children’s Table serves around 200 people. But in November, while some were not getting SNAP benefits during the government shutdown, the organization said it saw an increase to around 250 people each Monday, said Pantry Manager Stacey Kile.
“We don’t ask any questions. If someone is in our line, they need our help. We don’t have any income or logistical requirements,” said Kile.
Along with its weekly food distributions in Bronson, the organization sends its bus to areas north and south of Bronson every other week. The north route stops in Archer, Williston and Gainesville, and the south route stops in Dunnellon, Hernando, Inglis and Otter Creek. Once a month, the bus also makes a trip to Branford.
Life can be unpredictable and people may not always be able to make it to the scheduled food distribution hours. The Children’s Table believes this shouldn’t prevent people or families from having food and wants it to be available for people whenever they may need it, so they offer availability five days a week.
On top of that, if someone is in need of food and it’s not within hours or they cannot make it to Bronson, the group will figure out a way to get the food to people. It’s the only organization in the area to offer that, said Kile.
The flexibility and availability of The Children’s Table is so well-known in the area that someone had driven 50 minutes from Gainesville to Bronson to pick up emergency food.
With all of this community outreach, Kile said the organization feeds around 2,500 people a week or about 10,000 a month. This year, the organization has been able to serve over 2 million meals and help over 100,000 people.
What the Children’s Table does is unique for a food pantry. It is not a part of Feeding America and does not receive any government funding or grants and is completely community-funded, which is why they have a $10 suggested donation when people receive food from them.
Founded by Bill and Verna Brown in 1996, the Children’s Table will be celebrating 30 years in January of being completely independent and serving millions of people over that time.
While the group has been able to serve the community while remaining independent, Kile said they are in need of a giant organization to take them under their wing and hopes, with the recognition they have been receiving, that it will come soon.
The Community Foundation of North Central Florida recognized Bill and Verna Brown and The Children’s Table with its Community Champion Honoree award at the Gainesville Legacy Awards held Nov. 13.
This year, The Children’s Table has also received some national and international recognition.
In June, Women’s World Magazine published a major article on the organization, and CNN spent three days with them to create a two- minute story that Kile said she saw run in Canada, Singapore and other parts of Asia.
At 96 years old, Mr. Bill, as he prefers to be called, is still involved with The Children’s Table and with the holiday season approaching, he said they will continue to do what they do every week along with holding events like the Thanksgiving Feast on Saturday.
“What we do, we love in open arms,” Mr. Bill said.