{"id":11812,"date":"2025-07-03T13:51:05","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T17:51:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/?p=11812"},"modified":"2025-07-03T13:51:43","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T17:51:43","slug":"small-church-makes-big-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/mandarin\/small-church-makes-big-impact\/","title":{"rendered":"Small church makes big impact"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Tracy McCormick-Dishman<br>editor@floridanewsline.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What started as a simple call to action after Sunday service has blossomed into a lifeline for dozens of local families. Mandarin Lutheran Church&#8217;s Baby Pantry, serving families with children ages newborn to 3, exemplifies how a small congregation can create meaningful change in their community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;It started really small,&#8221; said Jennifer McInnis, a church member and baby pantry volunteer. &#8220;We just kind of opened up, put the word out to the congregation and said, &#8216;We have a family in need. Anybody who can stop and grab some diapers and wipes, bring them on over.'&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That humble beginning two years ago has grown into a twice-monthly operation serving approximately 40 registered families. Every other Sunday, for two hours after church service, volunteers transform the church into a distribution center, providing diapers, wipes, formula and clothing to an average of 15 families per session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The operation runs on heart rather than high-tech systems. Paper binders serve as their database, and families provide birth certificates and proof of residency. When language becomes a barrier, volunteers use Spanish interpreters and find ways to communicate with families from Eastern European countries and those who are deaf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Everybody who&#8217;s involved, from the volunteers to the families themselves, are just people,&#8221; McInnis said. &#8220;It&#8217;s really heartwarming to see the communication efforts between the volunteers and the families.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite having only 60 to 80 active members, the church meets substantial supply needs through congregational donations and a partnership with the Mandarin Food Bank. The relationship was cultivated by Sandy Mitten, known as &#8220;Grandma Gunner&#8221;\u2014a spirited octogenarian, military veteran and Green Bay Packers fan who became the church&#8217;s unofficial ambassador to the food bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mitten&#8217;s advocacy created a mutually beneficial relationship where the church contributes food donations and fresh produce from gleaning activities, while the food bank reciprocates by sending baby supplies they can&#8217;t use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;She goes and takes it to the Mandarin food bank and has developed a really nice relationship with them over there,&#8221; McInnis said. &#8220;When they can, if they have baby related items, they&#8217;ll donate items to the baby pantry as well.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The church&#8217;s commitment extends beyond weekly operations. Once annually, they organize a fundraising event for the baby pantry. This year&#8217;s event is July 11, featuring trivia competition ($10 per person) and a raffle with gift cards from nearly two dozen businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For McInnis and her fellow volunteers\u2014typically fewer than 10 people running the entire operation\u2014the baby pantry represents their core mission in action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We really feel great about it and we hope that it helps them,&#8221; she said. &#8220;That&#8217;s a core piece of the mission here is to serve the community.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The church demonstrates that community impact isn&#8217;t measured by congregation size but by commitment to neighbors, proving that even small groups can create substantial change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Community members can donate diapers, baby wipes, bath needs, rash cream, ointments and gently used clothing at the church between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., Monday through Thursday. The church is located at 11900 San Jose Boulevard, Jacksonville. For more information, call 904-268-4591 or email office@mandarinlutheran.org.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"http:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/MNL-Baby-Pantry-2507-Pat-Sartini.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"510\" height=\"627\" data-id=\"11818\" src=\"http:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/MNL-Baby-Pantry-2507-Pat-Sartini.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11818\" srcset=\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/MNL-Baby-Pantry-2507-Pat-Sartini.jpg 510w, https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/MNL-Baby-Pantry-2507-Pat-Sartini-244x300.jpg 244w, https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/MNL-Baby-Pantry-2507-Pat-Sartini-342x420.jpg 342w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 510px) 100vw, 510px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Carol Skiber stocks the shelves with donations<br>of the Mandarin Lutheran Church Baby Pantry.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"http:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/MNL-Baby-Pantry-2507-Carol-Skiber.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"510\" height=\"494\" data-id=\"11817\" src=\"http:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/MNL-Baby-Pantry-2507-Carol-Skiber.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11817\" srcset=\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/MNL-Baby-Pantry-2507-Carol-Skiber.jpg 510w, https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/MNL-Baby-Pantry-2507-Carol-Skiber-300x291.jpg 300w, https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/MNL-Baby-Pantry-2507-Carol-Skiber-434x420.jpg 434w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 510px) 100vw, 510px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Pat Sartini stocks the shelves with donations<br>of the Mandarin Lutheran Church Baby Pantry.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"http:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/MNL-Baby-Pantry-2507-Beth-Shuss.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"510\" height=\"464\" data-id=\"11816\" src=\"http:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/MNL-Baby-Pantry-2507-Beth-Shuss.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11816\" srcset=\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/MNL-Baby-Pantry-2507-Beth-Shuss.jpeg 510w, https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/MNL-Baby-Pantry-2507-Beth-Shuss-300x273.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/MNL-Baby-Pantry-2507-Beth-Shuss-462x420.jpeg 462w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 510px) 100vw, 510px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Beth Shuss Carol Skiber stocks the shelves with donations<br>of the Mandarin Lutheran Church Baby Pantry.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"http:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/MNL-Baby-Pantry-2507-B.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"510\" height=\"482\" data-id=\"11815\" src=\"http:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/MNL-Baby-Pantry-2507-B.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11815\" srcset=\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/MNL-Baby-Pantry-2507-B.jpg 510w, https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/MNL-Baby-Pantry-2507-B-300x284.jpg 300w, https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/MNL-Baby-Pantry-2507-B-444x420.jpg 444w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 510px) 100vw, 510px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Volunteers Peggy Bergman, left, and Michelle Langston stand in front<br>of donations for the Mandarin Lutheran Church Baby Pantry that<br>serves children ages newborn to three years old.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tracy McCormick-Dishmaneditor@floridanewsline.com What started as a simple call to action after Sunday service has blossomed into a lifeline for dozens of local families. Mandarin Lutheran Church&#8217;s Baby Pantry, serving families with children ages newborn to 3, exemplifies how a small congregation can create meaningful change in their community. &#8220;It started really small,&#8221; said Jennifer McInnis, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11813,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11812","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mandarin"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Small church makes big impact - Florida NewsLine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mandarin NewsLine Tracy McCormick-Dishmaneditor@floridanewsline.com What started as a simple call to action after Sunday service has blossomed into a lifeline for dozens of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/mandarin\/small-church-makes-big-impact\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Small church makes big impact - 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