OKEECHOBEE — Big Lake Mission received multiple certificates recently for its work in the community. Bruce and Mary Anne Swinford started the mission nearly 30 years ago, and still feed the hungry at their meal site at the United Methodist Church several times a week.

Big Lake Missions not only serves meals four days a week at the Methodist Church but also supplies bags of food to families in need.  In addition, they send the food out into the community via deputies or other charities who deliver to those in need. "We help probably seven, eight, nine other charities," said Mary Anne. 

"We give our overload," said Bruce. "We get boxes of bread every day. We can't use it all here, so we send it to other agencies to hand it out."

Feeding the hungry is not the only thing the Swinfords do, they also arrange a huge toy drive each year for Christmas.  The Toy/Bike Run usually begins at the Brahman Theater and ends at the Eagle's Club.

In the past, they organized school supply drives, but now, there are so many doing this that they don’t do it anymore. They also used to do a big Thanksgiving dinner, and they still cook but now they do a smaller version intended for their usual clientele. They have even put people up in motels, but they only do this if they know the need is legit, usually when recommended by the sheriff’s department. They even allowed a man in need to move into their home and stay for years.

Bruce and Mary Anne estimate they helped more than 15,000 people in Okeechobee in one way or another each and every year.

Bruce is pictured here accepting certificates from Eagle Riders and Eagles Club, Heritage Village, Okeechobee City Police and the Okeechobee Sheriff’s Office.