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Vietnam veterans, CenterState Bank team to provide food, clothing to homeless students

By Wesley LeBlanc
Posted 12/16/20

ORANGE PARK – Two seemingly unrelated organizations in the county have teamed up to get food, clothing and other essentials to the school district’s homeless population.

The local chapter of …

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Vietnam veterans, CenterState Bank team to provide food, clothing to homeless students


Posted

ORANGE PARK – Two seemingly unrelated organizations in the county have teamed up to get food, clothing and other essentials to the school district’s homeless population.

The local chapter of Vietnam Veterans and a bank likely aren’t the first two things to pop into your head when you think of a food and goods drive team-up, but that’s exactly what happened with Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 1059 and Orange Park’s CenterState Bank. The two raised truckloads of food and clothing for homeless students in Clay County.

“It was probably early fall that we were made aware through my Rotary Club that there is a large population of homeless students in Clay County,” CenterState Bank’s Michele Riley said. “When we heard about that, we decided that we’d do a drive as there was a serious need for clothing and food, as well as toiletries. We have been doing this drive now for several months and it’s been extremely successful.”

This months-long drive originally started off as a single-month project. CenterState Bank branches receive $125 each month to put back into the community by means of a charity or some other community-helping act or organization. Riley and her team landed on the school district’s homeless population months ago and the need was so large that now, several months later, the drive is still alive and well.

It received its largest donation yet just last week. That’s where David Treffinger and the Chapter 1059 Vietnam veterans come in. Treffinger doesn’t remember exactly how his chapter learned of Riley’s work, but he said when they did hear about it, they got right to work.

“I put an email out to our members, about 155 members in this chapter and 30 associates of Vietnam Veterans of America, about what was needed,” Treffinger said. “We held an outdoor meeting on Dec. 5 and that’s where we collected everything for the students. We had truckloads of things. Trunks were full, back seats were stocked...I just couldn’t believe it.”

Treffinger said for as surprised as he was, he probably shouldn't have been. That’s because the veterans of Chapter 1059 are some of the most generous people he knows, Treffinger said.

“It’s been phenomenal working with David,” Riley said. “The vets have been the largest contributor to this drive so far. We were just beside ourselves when we learned of how much they had raised for us. Our branch is stuffed with food and goods for these students.”

Riley said the goods have been primarily going to Middleburg and Orange Park highs. Riley said that’s where the most recent intake of goods is going, although she’s recently heard of Grove Park Elementary and Ridgeview High’s need. She said schools like Ridgeview don’t have great storage options for drives like this, but that she wants to work with the district to possibly create a network of involved schools.

If a school can store the goods and allow someone from a different school to access them, that’d be perfect, Riley said in reference to storage options in the district.

Riley and her team are working to get the truckloads of food and essentials to students before the school district’s winter break begins. She said she’s learned in this process that many homeless students live in cars without heat, under bridges and in wooded areas in Clay County.

“We take for granted our homes and our jobs that keep us somewhere warm and not worried about food, but there are children in our county that are homeless and school might be the only place they get warmth and food,” Riley said. “We are just trying to help however we can, be it some food or a pair of socks.

“These students matter to us.”