About Operation Compassion

Operation Compassion Food Pantry in Ocala, Florida began through the visionary leadership of Pastor Randy Watson of the Living Waters Church of God. In 1998, a small group of volunteers began preparing brown paper bags of food to distribute to those in need.

A few years later, in 2002, one of those volunteers came to the Wings of Faith Fellowship Church of God, in the Southeast quadrant of Ocala and started the Operation Compassion Food Pantry.

As the needs of the community grew, the Living Waters Church of God, operating under the new leadership of Pastor Johnny Childers, launched a new project. In 2015, a non-profit food bank titled “His Compassion” was created, directing the food ministry away from the church and molding it into its own entity.

Then, in 2026, to better meet the needs of the community, we merged the two food ministries together, resulting in the creation of Operation Compassion of Florida, Inc.

In 2025, through our dedicated staff and over 200 volunteers serving more than 7,200 hours combined, we fed over 23,000 families, representing over 76,000 people with over 1,444,000 pounds of good, healthy food.   

Over the last three years we have witnessed an increase of 700% in the number of people seeking assistance. It is our hope and prayer that as the needs of our community increase, Operation Compassion of Florida will be able to meet those needs, as we have since our inception. Please join us in our fight to reduce food insecurity within our community!