Women's Basketball serves Thanksgiving meals to downtown neighbors with Cup of Love Ministry

While most students are hitting the road for the Thanksgiving holiday, the Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ) women's basketball team went out to serve the community.

FSCJ women's basketball stepped off the court and into the community before heading home for their Thanksgiving break. Working alongside Cup of Love, a local Jacksonville ministry, members of the team talked to and directed the under-served of our community as they waited in line for meals. Cup of Love along with City Rescue Mission serves much of the downtown homeless community every Wednesday and the last Saturday of the month, but today they served Thanksgiving meals to hundreds of individuals. 

"What I really enjoyed about today was getting to make a difference in someone else's life.", said sophomore Ameera Thomas. "Today I was able to hear so many different peoples stories and I was touched by their happiness despite what life has thrown at them. It really helped me to look outside of my problems and put perspective into what I may feel I am going through. Serving today really made me grateful and I would like to continue to bless others while learning more about different perspectives in life." 

The women's basketball team spent most of the morning getting to speak with many of the individuals waiting in line. Freshman guard Alyssa Pearson, a Jacksonville native, was one of several that took time to really listen and talk. "I really enjoyed helping our downtown neighbors today. Hearing their stories and listening to them reminisce about their younger years and when they played basketball in school was fun. It was a great experience and can't wait to go back and serve again."

Cup of Love and City Rescue Mission both work to provide food, clothing, shelter, emergency services and residential recovery programs to homeless men, women, and women with children. Neither of these groups accept government funding. Financial support of the Mission comes from donations made generously by concerned individuals, churches, businesses, civic organizations, and foundations. If interested in more information, click on the links provided.