- November 23, 2024
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Jay Wieder jumped at the chance to lend a hand to his ailing community after Flagler County was struck by Hurricane Irma.
Wieder, who is a part of the Flagler Volunteer Services, was listening to the radio when he heard an announcement that hot meals were being donated to the Flagler Beach Historical Museum to be given to any resident in need.
“It’s what I do,” the 56-year-old Palm Coast resident said. “Any disaster, I’m there. I guess I was brought up that way.”
In addition to Wieder, several county residents pitched in to help the First Baptist Church of Palm Coast deliver 100 hot meals — consisting of pulled pork, Lays chips, a bread roll, coleslaw, an apple and a bottle of water — to the museum, located at 207 S. Central Ave. in Flagler Beach on Thursday, Sept. 14.
The goal was to have residents stop by to pick up free meals, but that idea was quickly scrapped. Instead, volunteers loaded up their cars with boxes of food and drove directly to those in need. Among the volunteers was local realtor Megan Farrell.
“We’re just doing what needs to be done, and this was one of the needs,” the Palm Coast resident said. “A lot of people are out of power right now, which means that they have lost their food that was in their refrigerator. They’ve gone through their reserve snacks. And unfortunately, with a hurricane like this, it’s a huge financial burden and people just don’t have the resources to go to Publix and things like that. There’s a really big need right now for food and not only food, but hot meals prepared for them.”
Farrell, who helped deliver the food to the museum, said similar efforts were being made in nearby Beverly Beach.
“It’s our responsibility to come together and take care of each other in a time of need like this,” she said.