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HIGH SPRINGS – Families in need got a little extra help this Thanksgiving to make sure they could have a traditional meal. The High Springs Community Outreach Program, located on 15 SE 1st Ave., which feeds and helps to clothe hundreds of area families each month, has received support from local businesses and residents to assist hungry families.

In an effort to help the fledgling organization meet its goal to feed hundreds of families for Thanksgiving, Santa Fe Ford in Alachua donated 110 turkeys just in time for the holiday.

The organization ended up with almost more than it could handle.

“All of a sudden, we had so many turkeys our freezers couldn’t hold them all,” said Bell Diefenderfer, director for the community outreach program. The overflow went to St. Madeleine’s Catholic Church until recipients could be called to come in and pick up their turkeys.

“This is the kind of problem we’d like to have more often,” she said.

The need for donations has been great, said Lucille Gabriel, volunteer for the program.

“Before receiving the large turkey donation, our freezers were bare by the end of each day,” she said. The gift from Santa Fe Ford arrived at just in time to help feed the families in need.

While Santa Fe Ford made a major donation, other families, businesses and organizations have also stepped up to help out.

Graceworks, located in High Springs, is an organization that helps the needy by selling donated items and clothing at discounted prices. It offered to provide Thanksgiving dinners to families from Gilchrist County, Diefenderfer said.

The Knights of Columbus at St. Madeleine’s Catholic Church in High Springs earns money throughout the year by providing a fish fry every Friday. Some of their funds go toward helping community outreach throughout the year, particularly Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Trinity United Methodist Church in Gainesville gave out Thanksgiving food baskets and a turkey a few days before the holiday to anyone sent by the Community Outreach Program.

“All of the area churches help us out as much as they are able,” Diefenderfer said. “It’s really heartwarming.”

One such family receiving a Thanksgiving dinner through Trinity Church this year is the Honeycutt family in High Springs.

“I don’t know how we would make it each month if it wasn’t for Bell and the volunteers at community outreach,” said Victoria Honeycutt, one of a family of six who are helped each month by the organization.

Honeycutt gets government assistance providing seven cans of baby formula each month for her 11-mont-old daughter, Kali-Anna. About halfway through the month, she runs out and looks to the Community Outreach Program for help. It provides a box of food, formula, diapers, wipes and baby clothes to help the family make it to the end of the month.

“When you have three young children, you need all the help you can get,” she said.

Her husband is disabled and she hasn’t had a chance to look for work since the family moved from Trenton to High Springs. “In this economy and with three children, it is difficult to find a job,” she said. Until Honeycutt finds a job to help her family out financially, she said they will have to continue to rely on Bell and the community outreach volunteers for help to feed and clothe her children.

“We have a lot to be thankful for this year,” Honeycutt said.  

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HIGH SPRINGS – Keeping yourself and your home safe during the holiday season takes a little planning.

Officer James Field of the High Springs Police Department and Detective Jesse Sandusky of the Alachua Police Department gave several suggestions to help keep everyone safe.

A house that appears empty at any time of year is a magnet for break-ins and thefts, Field said. One way to deter potential criminal intrusion is to consider how the property looks when occupied. If a homeowner routinely picks up newspapers and mail, they may choose to either stop delivery during their absence or ask a trusted neighbor to pick them up daily. Piles of newspapers on the front lawn or a stuffed mailbox signal that no one is home, he added.

Other tips are to make sure all doors and windows are locked and nothing is left outside that can be picked up easily and removed from the property, Sandusky said.

If vehicles are left on the property, make sure all doors are locked and windows are rolled up. Keep anything of value out of sight in the vehicles.

Leave an outside light on so neighbors can see if someone is at the door or windows, Field said.

If a timer is available, use it to turn inside lights on and off at appropriate times, he said.

If no timer is available, Field suggested leaving a couple of lights on in the house or leaving a radio on at a normal level.

Leave a key to the house with a trusted neighbor in case of an emergency, he said.

Alerting the police you will be out of town and requesting extra patrols can be helpful, said both Field and Sandusky. In some cities, such as High Springs, officers will get out of the car and check doors and windows for up to five to seven days in the resident’s absence.

When traveling or shopping, do not leave valuables or bags visible inside the vehicle, Sandusky said.

Park your car in the most visible and well-lit area in a parking lot, he added. Have the key to the car out and in your hand before leaving the security of a building to go to the car. Be attentive to your surroundings. If you are at a mall, shopping area or rest stop and feel uneasy, ask a security guard to either escort you to your car or watch you as you walk to your car and are safely inside with the doors locked and the engine running.

Following these simple tips can help keep everyone safe and worry free during the holiday season, said Field and Sandkusky.

“Crime seems to go up when people are shopping and preoccupied with all they have to get done,” Sandusky said.

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HAWTHORNE – Santa Fe College will be offering community education courses at Hawthorne High School starting in January.

Computer skills, dancing and pottery will be among the six or seven courses available.

Hawthorne resident Heather Surrency began laying the groundwork for the courses last August, when she was inspired be the number of Hawthorne students with scholarships and good grades, but no access to transportation to go to Gainesville for classes.

“So I thought, let’s bring the classes to them,” she said.  

She started calling people from Santa Fe College, the University of Florida, the Hawthorne Chamber of Commerce and others to set up meetings.

The classes will not be worth college credit at the start, but Surrency hopes they will be before the start of the next school year.

There will be an introductory computer class and courses on dancing, pottery, painting, Microsoft Excel and Word, Microsoft Powerpoint and Publisher and preparing and sending resumes through email.

The course on using email to apply for jobs is free. The rest will cost around $34 to about $69.

“They’re affordable classes,” Surrency said.

Surrency said she believes as more jobs come into the area, it’s important to make sure the residents are prepared.

“Knowledge is power,” she said. “I think it’s an opportunity to have our citizens be ready and skilled for the jobs that are coming.”

The program has already brought some jobs to the area. Santa Fe College has hired Hawthorne residents to teach the classes. Only experience and knowledge in the subject is required, Surrency said, teachers for the community education classes do not need certificates.

In the future, the program could expand, she said.

“If we outgrow it, maybe one day we will have our own future Santa Fe campus,” Surrency said.

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CARL MCKINNEY/Alachua County Today

Ashby Green sips on his cup of coffee during an early morning drive through a field of cattle. He and Roger West raise cattle on eight different locations throughout Alachua County, including Alachua, Newberry and Gainesville.

ALACHUA – Every cut of beef and vegetable leaf in Hitchcock’s supermarket represents countless hours of labor from 2 percent of the American population.

This week, the Florida Farm Bureau is celebrating Farm-City Week, honoring the men and women who work to supply the food lining the shelves of grocery stores.

Farmers like Roger West, who raises cattle in eight locations across the county, make up the 2 percent of Americans who feed the country.

“A lot of people don’t really realize where their food comes from and how much work it takes to reduce it and process and get it to them,” West said.

West raises around 350 cattle each year across 1,800 acres of land around Alachua County.

He works six or seven days a week, making sure his cattle are healthy, have a good weight and have a decent amount of food and water.

“From the standpoint of cattle production, it’s about 75 percent science and 25 percent art,” West said.

Better understanding of genetics and nutrition has allowed American farmers to get the same amount of beef that was being produced in the 1950s with far fewer cows, he said.

“Each cow is producing more beef through technology,” West said.

The University of Florida has been a leader in performing the research that helps farmers be more efficient with their livestock.

One of the farms West works lies between Alachua and High Springs, just off U.S. Highway 441. Jeffords Farm was named after Belle Jeffords, an active participant in the Alachua County Cattlemen’s Association. It was named after her to carry on her legacy of good stewardship and responsible land use, said Ashby Green, West’s business partner.

“This farm and the people running it are doing the right things,” he said. Jeffords Farm cooperates with the Suwannee River Water Management District to use its resources responsibly.  

Around 10 a.m. on a cool Tuesday morning, Green rolled up to the farm in a white truck, ready to talk about the life of a cattleman.

Green, a former veterinarian, looked at the weight of the livestock to make sure they are ready for winter. They are weighted on a scale of one to 10. For this time of the year, a six or seven is optimal, he said.

He walked through the fields, giving off a call to the cows. They waited until he got too close before dispersing, keeping their distance from Green.

“They have a lot of personality,” he said. “They’re very much like people.”

The biggest challenge facing farmers today is educating the consumer on how cattlemen produce beef, West said.

Farm-City Week runs from Nov. 22 to Nov. 28, and is intended to celebrate the relationship between farmers and supermarkets, honoring their contributions to the quality of life of Floridians and people across the country, according to the Florida Farm Bureau.

Every time someone buys food, whether it is local or not, it helps the market and supports farmers,   said Micanopy farmer John Newbanks.

“We should be appreciated at least three times a day when you sit down for your meals,” said farmer Green.

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ALACHUA – It all started with a survey of senior citizens in 2012.  

“We noticed that a lot of senior citizens do not use the computer, or do not look at the computer for their news,” said Diane Morgan, grants specialist for the City of Alachua.

After looking at these stats, the Alachua Senior Resource Advisory Board asked if they could start writing a senior newsletter to keep the elderly in Alachua informed.

“I am Lois Lane, star reporter,” Morgan said, laughing. She runs the senior citizen newsletter, the Senior Sentinel, for the City of Alachua. She is the liaison, taking the photos, formatting the layout and writing the information to needed to get the message out to the community.

The Senior Sentinel is a bi-monthly newsletter. The first issue was released for the months of September and October, and already had to expand for November and December issue.

Now, there is bigger print and bigger paper, catering to its audience.

“We want to make it readable and easy,” Morgan said. The paper is printed in four pages, with large paper.

Gib Coerper, mayor of the City of Alachua, has recognized the Senior Sentinel as well.

“This is one of the best things that’s happened here,” he said. “We got so involved with our seniors.”

Sixty citizens have already signed up and now get the newsletter delivered to their home by mail. The main purpose is to inform the senior citizens of the activities going on in Alachua’s Cleather Hathcock Community Center, with events going on that are geared toward them.

The newsletter is a way of giving back to the people who make Alachua as good as it is, Coerper said.

“We don’t want to be disconnected from them, that’s for sure,” he said.

The seniors have been appreciative, Coerper said, and will hopefully want to get more involved with the community as a result.

The city’s senior advisory board has received great feedback about the newsletter, and is organized to cater to the needs the elderly, he said.

Technology is a big obstacle for a lot of people in this changing society, and it can be intimidating for most seniors, Morgan said.

“By keeping our news in print, it at least keeps it available to everybody,” she said. She believes that there will be a time when everybody will be walking around, getting news from their tablets and smart phones.

In the meantime, the newsletter is there until that day comes, Morgan said.

“It’s doing what it’s supposed to do,” she said. “Who knows where it’ll be a year from now.”

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RONN JONES/Special to Alachua County Today

Melody Lewis, Bella Diefenderfer, Dorothy Newbern, Father Sebastian George, Lucille Gabriel, Bob Barnas, Richard Williams, Lauri Edvardson, Sue Weller, Pierre LeBrun, Bishop Felipe Estevez and Helen LeBrun gather for a photo.

HIGH SPRINGS – The High Springs Community Outreach Program, which feeds and helps to clothe hundreds of area families each month, was visited by a Florida Catholic Clergyman.

Bishop Felipe Estevez of St. Augustine came to the city to offer his blessings to the program.

His office allowed the formation of the fledgling organization, organized by St. Madeleine’s Church, when another organization closed its local office near the end of June.

Community Outreach Program director, Bella Diefenderfer, and her volunteers, received Bishop Estevez, Father Sebastian George, Pastor, St. Madeleine’s Catholic Church, members of the Knights of Columbus, Mayor Sue Weller and Commissioner Bob Barnas at their headquarters, 15 SE 1st Ave., High Springs, on Wed. Nov. 6.

“It was a great honor having Bishop Estevez come all this way to bless our program,” Diefenderfer said. “We were especially pleased to have area dignitaries, Father George and several of our most ardent supporters attend,” she said.

More than 400 families with upwards of 500 children in the High Springs area could go without food this holiday season without the help of the area residents, according to the program organizers. Around 150 families have asked for help providing Thanksgiving dinners, and around 75 have asked for help with Christmas dinners.

“Without the community’s involvement, outreach will not be able to accomplish its mission, which is to help people less fortunate,” Diefenderfer said in an earlier interview. “They need food and gifts.”

The organization feeds more than 400 families located in High Springs, Ft. White, Alachua, Hague and Newberry, and even some from Gilchrist and Union counties. Many of the families come every 30 days for food and clothing for themselves and their children, she said.

Fewer people are donating now than in previous years, Diefenderfer said. She has spent eight years with charities, and said she knows what the families need.

The program cannot fully provide all the food each family needs, but it can be a big help, she said, allowing them to last through the month. There is a lot of need and not a lot of supplies, Diefenderfer said.

The organization is also trying to provide Christmas gifts for over 200 younger children. Even a used outfit, a pair of shoes or a toy can make all the difference in the world, she said. The deadline to submit unwrapped children's gifts is Dec. 13. Anyone wishing to adopt a family for the holidays can contact Diefenderfer directly to make arrangements.

“These families are in desperate need of help from their communities,” she said in an earlier interview. “Whatever people wish to give in whatever way they give it is always very much appreciated.”  

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