Jump4Jax prides itself on being an organization built by the community, for the community and in service of the community. An eye opening revelation I had thanks to Generation Philanthropy is that ‘to give back’ means to restore something to its rightful owner.
“The operative virtue in giving back is justice. Giving back is therefore fundamentally different from simply giving. The operative virtue in giving is generosity.”
On March 10th, Jump4Jax visited the City Rescue Mission and gave out essential survival packs to both men and women. In this action, we weren’t giving anything -- but rather, we were restoring under-served parts of the Jacksonville community, a community that makes Jump4Jax possible. It is the most liberating and humbling experience because ‘you’ are taken out of the equation and the action becomes a moment of complete and total service to your fellow man.
Jump4Jax endeavors to not only restore under-served parts of the community, but to also impart the practice on our younger generations so that they can grow up understanding the difference between simply giving and giving back, and why the latter is what truly forges bonds and brings individuals together.
The issue of homelessness in downtown Jacksonville is not new, nor will it be fixed in a day. However, organizations like Jump4Jax that strive to make a difference must be dedicated to evolving their approach as necessary. For us, this means appreciating the humanity of whom we’re serving and recognizing their right to survival, which is why the operative virtue in our giving is justice-- societal erasure of the humanity of homeless individuals is real and rampant, but we hope to restore even the smallest bit by doing our part.
We hope to continue distributing survival packs throughout the Downtown area as our Volunteer base grows and we are able to do more as a nonprofit organization. A huge thanks to Onija Davis and Ethel Dixon-Davis for helping to distribute those survival packs at our most recent event, as well as all of the volunteers who contributed to the effort.
And remember -- “To jump forward, you have to give back!”