Hugs Across the County, an all-volunteer nonprofit, works year-round to provide clothing, shoes, full size toiletries, new books and food to St. Johns County children-in-need, including the more than 400 local kids who are considered homeless.
With unemployment at an all-time high due to the COVID pandemic, Hugs is continuing efforts to provide Clothing Care Packages to dozens of local children through referrals from school counselors and nonprofit partners, like the Betty Griffin Center.
Hugs is working closely with Epic Cure (the Feeding Northeast Florida food pantry partner in St. Johns County) and the St. Johns County School District by providing volunteer assistance for the distribution of boxes of non-perishable food, fresh bread and healthy produce to 500+ local children every Friday.
Hugs knows that hundreds of local children do not have books in their homes, and the need is even greater now that they do not have access to school libraries. Hugs is providing hundreds of brand-new books to Title 1 elementary schools for distribution to their students.
“We are so grateful for our incredible volunteers who are juggling their enthusiastic efforts with important social distancing measures,” Hugs director Brette Reiman said. “We are also thankful for donations from the Ponte Vedra Woman’s Club, the Rotary Club of Ponte Vedra Beach, the United Way’s First Coast Relief Fund, Publix, Village Bread & Bagel and many private donations, all of which help our tiny team provide emergency assistance to local kids now and throughout the year.”
Visit www.stjohnshugs.org for information, to volunteer or to make a donation.
