by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Within seconds of six members of the Jacksonville Jaguars walking into the Clara White Mission two things happened: first, it was verified they were all wearing shoes and no one had on a tank top, and second, they got a quick history lesson.
Both issues were important because on Tuesday — community day for the team — Scott Starks, Gerald Sensabaugh, Chad Owens, Pat Thomas, Jim Davis and Andrew Economos were serving lunch to hundreds of homeless folks. Health codes require shoes and prohibit tank tops, important because the players would be “behind-the-line” in the kitchen. And, everyone who enters the mission gets a quick history on Clara White and the purpose of her namesake facility.
“We are always glad to come out and get in the community and help people,” said wide receiver Chad Owens, a sixth-round pick from Hawaii who’s on the team’s practice squad. “I’m kind of excited. It’s great to see the people and the looks on their faces. They’ll be thrilled we are here.”
Other Jaguars were scattered all over, as they usually are on Tuesday during the season. One player was at Ft. Caroline Middle School while another was in Green Cove Springs addressing the Clay County Police Athletic League’s 7-14 year-old football players on the importance of teamwork. Linebacker Akin Ayodele was the guest speaker at the Character Counts luncheon.
Chris Millman of the team’s Community Relations Department said there wasn’t any specific reason the Clara White Mission was chosen on this particular day.
“The guys wanted to come and lend a hand,” said Millman. “The Jaguars came here a few years and we haven’t been back in a while. This is something a little different.”
Ju’Coby Pittman-Peele, president and CEO of the Clara White Mission, may have been as excited as anyone in the cafeteria, partly because she knew the team was coming but mostly because many of her guests knew the team was coming.
“This is so wonderful. We have enjoyed a long relationship with the Jaguars from the very beginning. It’s nice to see them come back,” said Pittman-Peele, adding she expected a big turnout. “They’re excited, too. We told them who was coming today. We get a big turnout every day, but they know we have guests coming, it’s such a wonderful feeling. For many, the only contact they have with other people is when they come to the mission.”
Pittman-Peele said the mission feeds 300-400 people a day, 365 days a year and it’s done primarily through volunteers and her unique kitchen staff.
“We have 22 students in our culinary program. All of them were either homeless or from disadvantaged homes,” said Pittman-Peele, explaining that the mission’s culinary school graduates are all state certified and receive job placement assistance. “It’s a win-win situation and I couldn’t afford to do this without them. We get the homeless fed and the students get a vocational skill.”
By the dozens, the local homeless filed in for a lunch of beef stroganoff, corn on the cob, rolls, iced tea and dessert. Some were interested in the new faces — a couple of the players were bigger people than they had seen in a while — serving them lunch. Others seemed unfazed, and were simply getting something they desperately needed.
Owens, a rookie who is by no means rich by National Football League standards, said something as simple as serving lunch to the needy is the kind of thing that appeals to him, regardless whether it’s a team requirement or not.
“I’ll come back,” he said. “These are the kinds of things you can always come back and do. It’s what, an hour or hour-and-a-half of your time to do something for the community and put a smile on someone’s face? That’s our main goal.”