Joint Ambulatory Care Center Hosts Mobile Food Pantry During Holiday Season
More than 200 boxes of non-perishable food and other items were distributed to Veterans and other eligible beneficiaries during a Dec. 15 event at the Joint Ambulatory Care Center (JACC) in Pensacola, Florida, designed to support Veterans and their families during the Holiday Season.
Employee volunteers at the Joint Ambulatory Care Center (JACC) – often referred to as the Pensacola VA Clinic – distributed pre-loaded bags during the contact-free four-hour drive-through event, an effort event organizer JACC Executive Secretary Lindsay Chojnacki said served a community need.
“Through donations received from so many charitable organizations along the Gulf Coast, we’re able to provide much-needed food assistance to our Veterans,” she said. “The past year has been particularly difficult for so many of our nation’s heroes – the Veterans who have defended our country – and being able to provide basic items to our underserved beneficiaries underscores the [Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System] GCVHCS mission.”
Chojnacki added that JACC nursing staff employees also provided COVID-19 vaccinations during the event to eligible beneficiaries desiring one.
Along with more than two dozen JACC employees, Chojnacki prepared boxes of non-perishable food and toiletry items for distribution during the Dec. 15 event. She added that coordination with the GCVHCS Homeless Veterans Program and the GCVHCS Voluntary Services department – which receives donated goods for Veterans and other eligible beneficiaries throughout the year – was instrumental in ensuring the community need was met.
“Our Veterans are our top priority, and the community here has always been an integral part of our mission,” she said. “The donations we received for this event demonstrate the sense of community the GCVHCS shares with Pensacola, and the efforts of our Voluntary Services department and Homeless Veterans Program in making sure this event occurred in time for the Holiday Season was critical.”
The JACC, along with the Biloxi VA Medical Center and the Mobile, Alabama, and Pensacola, Eglin and Panama City Beach Community-based Outpatient Clinics are all part of the GCVHCS, which is headquartered in Biloxi, Mississippi, and provides a variety of health care services to more than 81,000 Veterans.