JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Waste Not Want Not, the Northeast Florida food rescue group, will set up at a Jacksonville park on Saturday, Nov. 7, to give people in need food, clothing and connections to community services at its Feeding Friends and Neighbors event.
The gathering runs from noon at Lift Every Voice and Sing Park, 120 Lee Street. Organizers bill it as the nonprofit’s signature community event, meant to draw attention to hunger and homelessness in the area.
This is the second year for the event. The group launched it in November 2025 to mark National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Month, and the response was strong enough that it became one of the organization’s core programs.
Waste Not Want Not works differently from a typical food bank. It describes itself as the only hunger relief group in the region focused entirely on rescue: it does not buy food or take government subsidies, and instead collects surplus from grocery stores, restaurants, farms and caterers. The group says it saves roughly 2 million pounds of food a year and passes it through close to 100 partner organizations across 14 Northeast Florida counties.
Nearly 300 volunteers pick up, sort and deliver that food. The nonprofit says it has to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars every year to keep the trucks moving, and that a $25 gift covers a week of food for a family of four.
People who want to help can donate or sign up to volunteer through the organization, and community groups can apply to become partners that receive food shares.
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