By Laurye Messer, A FULL SUMMER Board President
In 2012, St. John’s held a Visioning Day as part of the “Visioning the Vineyard” strategic planning process. One of the initiatives presented for consideration was A FULL SUMMER, a meal assembly event focused on feeding children during the summer months. St. John’s adopted this initiative and the first A FULL SUMMER was held in Alfriend Hall in June 2013. Since then, A FULL SUMMER has grown by leaps and bounds! This annual event now involves hundreds of volunteers from throughout our community, working together with the goal of feeding thousands of local children over the summer.
This year, A FULL SUMMER raised more than $36,000, and on the first Saturday in June more than 250 volunteers—including three teams of St. John’s parishioners—packed 7,000 bags of nutritious snacks for food-insecure children.
Each “snack pack” bag contains a handwritten note of support to the child who receives it. Second Harvest of the Big Bend distributes the snacks to Leon County Schools’ food pantries, as well as community centers, and any location where food-insecure children gather. In addition, A FULL SUMMER helps sponsor nine Leon County School food pantries and it pays for the monitoring fee for the Hope 24/7 Food Locker at Sabal Palm Elementary School.
A FULL SUMMER would not exist without the faith and support of St. John’s. Each year, our parish includes A FULL SUMMER in our common ministry, or operating, budget. In 2023, St. John’s donated $2,500 to A FULL SUMMER. In addition to the church’s support, St. John’s parishioners pack meals and donate individually to the effort.
Thank you, St. John’s, for your faithful support of A FULL SUMMER. Together we are living out the words of Jesus in John 21:17, when he said to Peter that if he loved him he should, “Feed my sheep.”
No child should go hungry. Together we are feeding God’s sheep.
