JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Duval County has collected 1,577 jars of peanut butter, weighing 2,013.4 pounds for the 2024 Peanut Butter Challenge.
The Peanut Butter Challenge is a friendly competition among counties, where people can drop off their unused, unexpired peanut butter. Peanut butter is grown in Florida, and is a staple at food pantries.
This beats the number of jars in 2023 by 31.45% -- and it was all collected only in the month of October. The peanut butter was collected by the UF/IFAS Extension Duval County office, which is a division of the City of Jacksonville's Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department.
The Extension Office has started giving out the peanut butter to select food pantries, with all deliveries expected to be finished before Thanksgiving. They were able to add three more donation drop-off locations, totaling 11.
"Together, we are making strides in the fight against hunger by providing this nutritious food item to local pantries," said Tracy Akers Williams, UF/IFAS Extension Duval County marketing manager, who led the charge on the Peanut Butter Challenge.
Some other counties will collect through the third week of November, so there's no word on if Duval won the challenge yet.
"Special thanks go to JaxCares, Duval County Property Appraiser Office, Duval County Extension Master Gardeners, Jacksonville Public Libraries, Hola News, Standard Feed and Seed, Yanira Cardona - COJ's Hispanic Outreach Coordinator,| Girl Scout Troup 74962 with Gateway Council, Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department, COJ Parks and Recreation, COJ Disabled Services, and all the citizens who donated," F/IFAS Extension Duval County wrote in a press release.
