Special Appeal for our Transportation Ministry

A message from Michael Broach, Director of Transportation:

In 1999, St. Joseph’s Parish took a leap of faith in purchasing a 16-passenger, wheelchair accessible bus in order to transport parishioners to and from Mass. At the time, there was a small group of dedicated volunteers who used their own personal vehicles to take fellow Catholics to Mass on Sundays. However, with a growing need for transportation for senior citizens, the disabled and the homebound in Mandarin, then pastor Father Dan Cody made the courageous decision to purchase a vehicle so that these Catholics could receive the Lord in Holy Communion at Mass along with the entire parish community. In November of that year, Father Cody asked me to serve as the first driver and then director of this new parish bus program. This certainly was a turning point in my life! Though I have been fortunate to have participated in many ministries and roles in our parish, the opportunity to bring people to our Eucharistic Lord through transportation has been the most fulfilling and rewarding experience of my Catholic life. The dedicated volunteers of our ministry share this same sentiment as they give their time so willingly to transport fellow parishioners to Mass. Our volunteers truly are a tremendous group of humble servants who take joy in serving others.

Over the past fifteen years, our ministry has been blessed to serve over 350 people – some for only a few weeks, some for many years with a few still riding since our first route launched in March 2000. However, in recent years, the need for transportation has exceeded the capacity of the bus. In 2008, we reached such a critical demand that we started double routes, often dropping off one group of senior citizens 45 minutes before Mass in order to pick-up another group on Sunday mornings. Despite these efforts, we continued to have a waiting list for transportation. Because of the demand for transportation then, we planned for the purchase of a second bus. However, the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) approached us with the opportunity to participate in their new Sunday Community Shuttle service. Beginning in 2009, one of our volunteers rode the JTA Shuttle to three retirement centers which transported the Catholic residents of those facilities to and from Mass. The shuttle route served as a great blessing to our ministry as it opened capacity on our parish bus to serve more of the homebound in Mandarin.

Last December, the JTA ended its Sunday shuttle service. Therefore, we are back to the same situation as in 2008. We currently have a full roster for our parish bus and a waiting list for transportation. In addition, given the many homebound parishioners we serve as well as the number of stops, our routes average over an hour in length one way which is not ideal for passengers with health concerns. Accordingly, our pastor Father Thanh, as well as the Finance Committee, have taken a leap of faith by committing our parish to the purchase of a second bus to serve the needs of our faith community. This second bus will be slightly smaller in capacity and accordingly, drivers will not be required to hold a Commercial Drivers License, or CDL, as is currently required with our present bus. Instead, adults 25 years or older with safe driving records and in proper health may volunteer to drive this new bus with a regular drivers license. The advantage of a second smaller bus, rather than a larger capacity vehicle, is that we can run two simultaneous routes in different directions transporting more people in less time.

As readers of this newspaper well know, receiving Jesus in Holy Communion is the source of our salvation and the heart of our faith – as our bishop often proclaims, we are a Eucharistic people! We are very fortunate in this parish to be able to bring people physically to Mass so that they may share in this feast. In closing, I ask for your support of our new bus and the continued success of this ministry. A special collection will be offered Palm Sunday weekend to make the purchase of the new bus possible. I ask for your generosity in financially supporting this program. Second, in order to expand our ministry to two buses, we need more drivers. If you feel a calling to this ministry as I did fifteen years ago, I can write in confidence that you will experience the same joy in serving others. Please contact me to learn how you can answer that call to serve in this fulfilling ministry. Finally, I ask for your prayers. It is through the intercession of your prayers that the Holy Spirit continues to guide us as we transport the faithful.

Michael Broach
Director of Transportation
(904) 891-0746
[email protected]


The special collection will take place March 28 & 29 at all Masses. If you would prefer to give a separate donation before or after that date, please contact Parish Administrator Patrick Kinnare at 268-5422 or [email protected].