LAKELAND, Fla. — A yellow house in North Lakeland may be small and ordinary, but the work happening inside is both grand and good. Each week, Faith In Action volunteers pack up hundreds of bags of food for people in need.
On this day, the group delivers the bags to the Trinity Apartments where low-income seniors like Manuel Velazquez appreciate all the ingredients that beef up his meals and budget.
“Absolutely, that’s the main goal. It really helps all the way around,” said Velazquez as he went through his brown bag of groceries. “Prices at the store, with the recession, every week they’re going up more and more — so this is great help.”
Sharon Haselton, who’s rockin’ purple Crocs at 78, says she and the other residents on fixed incomes count on the deliveries and are thankful for the charity’s work.
“Oh, they’re terrific!” Haselton said “A lot of the people here would not do as well without her.”
And that brings us to “her,” Mildred McMillon. She started the North Lakeland chapter of Faith In Action.
“And the Spirit just say, ‘This is it. This is what you need to do,’ and I said I would work a half-day and get it going,” McMillon said.
That was 21 years ago, and it hasn’t exactly worked out how she planned: “I haven’t worked a half-day yet,” McMillon said with a chuckle.
You’ll find McMillon taking calls, driving to get fresh produce and doing whatever it takes to help her neighbors. And by the way, this dynamo is older than most of the people she serves.
“I will be 95 in January,” she reveals a bit hesitantly. “I was taking one pill from the doctor, but now I take two.”
If only the doctor could order up a better building.
“We are in desperate need of more space,” McMillon said, pointing to rooms in the house overflowing with donations of supplies like sheets and blankets.
McMillon dreams of creating a larger senior center where elders could gather and talk, and learn how to use computers. She’ll need the community’s help and donations to get that done.
But it certainly seems like McMillon already has someone pretty important on her side.
“God just blessed me that when I wake up in the morning—I’m ready to go,” she said.