Around 20 High Springs community members unboxed over 2,700 pounds of food on Monday to restock Deeper Purpose Community Church’s (DPCC) food pantry and community fridge after a vital grant eliminated its threat of closure. 

Last Wednesday, DPCC posted on Facebook that it would temporarily close its resource center due to a lack of funding. The food pantry and community fridge at the church (19930 NW US Hwy 441, High Springs) is the largest distributor of free food for High Springs and surrounding rural communities. 

About 30 hours after the post, DPCC announced services would resume this week due to a $25,000 grant from the Community Foundation of North Central Florida (CFNCF). 

CFNCF president and CEO Barzella Papa told Mainstreet the money will help keep the resource center open through the end of the calendar year and that CFNCF will work closely with DPCC to build a strategy for long-term sustainability. 

“We were just really excited that we were able to step in and not disrupt their operations and keep it going,” she said. “When we heard about the food pantry closing, it was an easy decision to make to get the funding and get them back open as soon as possible.” 

Gainesville-based nonprofit Bread of the Mighty Food Bank (BOTMFB), which has been a partner of DPCC’s for one year, delivered Monday’s shipment of food enabled by the grant. 

DPCC lead pastor Adam Joy said it was the first time in three weeks the pantry’s shelves had been stocked and that an electrician was also coming to set up two new refrigerator units secured by BOTMFB through a grant from Walmart.  

Volunteers formed an assembly line to unload, unbox and organize the four pallets of food. Resident Donna Deal was one of those volunteers. She said Monday was her first time helping at the food pantry and that she’d always wanted to after having been a recipient of DPCC resources in the past. 

Deal said that although she’s not interested in the church aspect of DPCC’s operation, she wanted to be part of Joy’s mission serving Alachua County.  

“He’s done so much for our community,” she said. “Anything to help him out, I want to be part of it. He loves our town.” 

BOTMFB Executive Director Patrick Dodds said DPCC’s food pantry has distributed between 50,000 and 60,000 pounds of food this year. DPCC often serves up to 25 families daily, 200 to 400 individuals on Friday afternoons, and as many as 400 cars come through during its monthly feedings. 

Dodds said DPCC’s pantry is unique compared to all other BOTMFB partners because it offers ingredients families can use to make entire meals.  

He also said that as a “choice pantry,” DPCC food pantry recipients get to have a dignifying shopping experience just as they would at a grocery store by selecting their own food instead of getting randomly pre-packaged assortments. 

“We don’t hesitate when there’s opportunities with Adam and Deeper Purpose because they’re filling a huge need,” Dodds said. “Some of the surrounding areas like Fort White people are coming here because he’s reliably open and he has food available for anybody at any time. He’s one of our larger, what we call, ‘stable pantries.’” 

Joy said the threat of closing the food bank last week due to an ongoing struggle to secure the necessary finances was its first since opening in 2012.  

He said it costs around $4,500 a month, or $45,000 per year, just to pay DPCC’s bills and the building’s lease where it houses the resource pantry, after-school programs, summer campers, senior and youth activities. Paying staff is an additional cost.  

Joy said the church’s phone line and the food bank’s line both ring all day for people asking not just for food assistance, but other emergencies, such as covering rent, electric and water bills. 

He added that DPCC had suspended in-person worship services to focus solely on community outreach. 

“The reason we are struggling financially is because for the last few years, we’ve delayed our own monthly bills to help community individuals pay their emergencies and their bills and we have never gotten grant funding to help with this kind of stuff,” Joy said. “So we’ve been [saving] every dollar we can.” 

He said he’s been entreating Alachua County for about a year for financial support. He said the money would go towards its nonprofit Deeper Purpose Community Charities to help it purchase more items and equipment for its resource center, help more families pay emergency rent and bills, pay its own monthly bills and hire more staff. 

Joy said even though the county seemed serious a few months ago about trying to help, he said county staff told him this month that they didn’t know whether he’d receive any funding this year, or how much, if approved. 

Although the county’s response wasn’t a “no,” Joy said it’s difficult to see its money go mostly into Gainesville organizations. 

“[Gainesville is] their county seat,” he said. “High Springs is like a stepchild…there’s about 17 towns and cities and municipalities in Alachua County, but Gainesville is getting the bulk of [county] funds and that’s just the truth.” 

Alachua County spokesperson Mark Sexton said DPCC’s charity is one of 11 organizations identified by county staff as community centers that could potentially receive county funding. Sexton said the idea is still in its conceptual stages and hasn’t been budgeted yet. 

He also said DPCC hadn’t made direct requests for funding through any of the county’s other funding resources, such as its Community Agency Partnership Program, which Bread of the Mighty Food Bank is part of, or the food systems department. 

Sexton said even though more county funding goes towards organizations in Gainesville, it’s because that’s where most of them are headquartered and they don’t limit their scope of service. 

“So many of our services, although they’re located in Gainesville, they’re available to people all over the county,” Sexton said. “Does more of [funding] go to organizations in Gainesville? Yes, because that’s where the nonprofit organizations are.” 

Joy said he is asking people to email the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners at bocc@alachuacounty.us on behalf of DPCC to request their support.  

He said the church has been, and will continue to, look for a smaller building that costs less. For now, with the CFNCF’s grant, Joy said the resource center will open again. Anyone interested in volunteering can email DPCC at deeperpurposecc@yahoo.com.   

“This vital assistance will ensure that the center can resume its programs, provide nutritious meals for families, and maintain a welcoming space where individuals and families can access needed resources, connect with neighbors, and participate in community-building activities,” DPCC posted on Facebook.