R and R Christmas Trees, located at the corner of Penman Road and Atlantic Boulevard in Neptune Beach (in front of Winn-Dixie), has launched a seasonal food drive for BEAM. Rick Sauls and Russ Alwood, owners of R and R, noted, "In addition to collecting food for BEAM from now until all our trees are sold, we will also be donating a portion of the proceeds from all Christmas tree sales to BEAM." 

BEAM's executive director, Vivian Southwell, reported that BEAM is seeing record-breaking numbers of clients for food this year.

"At this point, we are distributing two tons of food each week, and doing our best to meet the needs of beaches families. We are blessed to have a generous and open-hearted community of donors at the beaches who continue to give food, dollars, and time to help their neighbors all year long. We are very grateful to R and R for collecting food for BEAM every day for four weeks."

BEAM (Beaches Emergency Assistance Ministry) is a 24-year-old social service agency founded by beaches churches, and helps keep families in their homes with a food pantry, rent and utility assistance, food stamp and Medicaid applications, help for job seekers, and much more.

Call 241-7437, ext. 1, for more information about BEAM.