" 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. ... Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." - Mark 12: 30-31
Putting God's love into action is central to our ministries at Highlands. We are actively involved in serving our community beyond our campus. Below you will find information about some of the many ministries that Highlands works to support and sustain.
Micah's Backpack
At Micah’s Backpack, Jacksonville, our mission is to feed food-insecure children on the weekend. The children we serve are identified by teachers and counselors as regularly coming to school hungry. For many of the children we support, lunch on Friday is the last meal they have until school breakfast on Monday morning. We are a community-based, grass-roots organization that runs completely on volunteers.
Volunteers and community support are critical to the success of our program. All the food we provide to students is purchased locally with donations from the community. Every dollar donated goes directly to feeding hungry children.
We hope you’ll join us as we feed our future, one child at a time.
The 'annual' cost of feeding one child through the school year is only $240.00
Family Promise
Family Promise of Jacksonville is a non-profit, interfaith hospitality network providing temporary shelter, meals, hospitality, and case management for families experiencing homelessness. We do this through the participation of local congregations, dedicated staff, and hundreds of volunteers. Family Promise of Jacksonville opened its doors to families in need on June 12, 2006 and our first family consisted of 2 moms with 6 children between them. Since that time we have served many more families in crisis and will continue to do so for years to come.
Family Promise of Jacksonville provides shelter, meals, and comprehensive support to families and children without homes. For years, Highlands was a “host” congregation providing support for overnight accommodations and meals for 3-5 families for one week every 15-18 weeks on a rotating basis. However, Covid led to a change in the program that allows families to stay on the Family Promise Campus with host churches providing meals, groceries, and supplies during their host weeks.
