0 Insect repellent donations helping St. Johns County homeless population

In St. Johns County, helping homeless community members has become more than just about food and shelter.

Thanks to the donations from the community, homeless around the county are getting free mosquito repellant during the summer.

The program started three years ago after homeless people were checking into Flagler Hospital with infections from mosquito bites.

The group Home Again started giving out donated cans of mosquito repellent to help those people.

Volunteers say the results are staggering.

“Since they have started distributing insect repellent through this program, no one has been sent to the hospital for an insect bite,” said Mary Farr, a volunteer.

Farr has led the charge for donations at her church, St. Patrick’s Episcopal. Now, other churches have gotten involved.

The generosity has quickly spread throughout the community. Volunteers say Home Again now gets hundreds of cans and bottles of the repellent from March through November.

This summer, there are heightened fears about the spread of the Zika virus in Florida.

Volunteers say they’re confident they can prevent the spread of mosquito-borne illnesses with this community effort.

“It’s just get them protected and everything else will follow to prevent diseases,” said Farr.

If you’d like to make a donation, there are four places to do so in St. Johns County:

St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church

1221 State Rd 13

Jacksonville, FL 32259

Redeemer Church

190 S. Roscoe Blvd.

Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082

Good Samaritan Health Clinic (Wildflower)

268 Herbert St.

St Augustine, FL 32084

Home Again St. Johns

1850 State Road 207

St. Augustine, FL 32086

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