Latasha Hardiman (left) sorts fresh vegetables for clients of the food pantry at The Salvation Army in Jacksonville while fellow volunteer Tony Goodall goes through boxes of donated goods.

As The Salvation Army is working to replace items lost when their freezer failed, their clients aren't being left out in the cold.

"We're kind of limping through right now," Salvation Army Capt. Chris Clarke said. "It's not ideal, but we are still getting people fed."

The organization took a major hit over the Labor Day weekend when it was discovered the freezer had broken down. Sept. 6 after the holiday, Clarke and a bevy of volunteers spent their time throwing out spoiled food.

The freezer contained about 2,000 pounds of meat and other frozen items for the agency's free lunch program. Clarke said the replacement value of the lost food came to $5,000.

While the loss of the food was one hit to the budget, the other punch came when the estimate to repair the freezer came in at $5,000.

Unfortunately, the freezer has not been repaired yet and Clarke is not sure when it will be fixed, though he is hopeful it will be before the end of the month.

"We did have a repairman out ... and found out the whole mechanical unit has to be replaced," Clarke said. "We don't have a number on when it will be fixed, but we need for it to happen soon. We're just not sure how long it will take to get the parts we need to fix it."

For now, The Salvation Army at 331 W. Douglas Ave. is relying on a double sliding glass door freezer that's in the food pantry, but Clarke said it doesn’t have near the space the organization needs. Not having a large freezer prevents The Salvation Army from being able to stockpile frozen food, so it affects what they can provide to clients.

"We serve 300-plus meals weekly through the free lunch program and provide groceries to more than 150 families weekly, so we go through a lot of food," Clarke said.

"We have had good support from the community," Clarke said. "We have received the equivalent of about $3,500 in donations to help replace food, but that's still short of what we lost, and we also have to repair the freezer."

For every $1 donated they can source $20 worth of groceries. Besides nonperishable food items, The Salvation Army is looking for any type of meat including ground beef, chicken, and pork. Clarke said any donation helps. 

"This comes at a time of year when we are usually struggling to keep up with demand due to a lag in donations," Clarke said, adding the Red Kettle season starts Nov. 9.