How nonprofits are helping families fight hunger in Augusta

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Next week, a farmers market kicks off at the Hub for Community Innovation.

It couldn’t come at a better time because summer is right around the corner.

Kids will be home, which means less access to meals at school. Augusta Locally Grown is just one resource working to help parents feed their families.

LaDonna Doleman is the manager of the Master’s Table Soup Kitchen at Golden Harvest. In her time serving the community, she’s noticed an uptick in families needing help.

“On the weekends, we see more families and more kids than we did two years ago,” she said.

More families and almost double the amount of kids coming to Golden Harvest for a meal since the start of the pandemic.

“We feed lots of families and kids, and since the pandemic hit, we are feeding regular Joe families,” said Moore.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 12.1 percent of Georgia households with children do not have enough resources to provide food to children.

Dr. Donna Moore is a professor of pediatrics at Augusta University. She says there are resources to help families dealing with food insecurity.

“The pandemic has worsened the problem we already had in Georgia,” she said.

Programs like SNAP give resources to families in need, and the WIC program helps low-income women, infants, and children up to year five get resources.

“It is a significant problem that we have in Georgia and across the nation,” she said.

As we get closer to summer break, resources like the Hub and Golden Harvest will continue to help fill the gaps.

Doleman said: “Seeing the families come in with their kids is very traumatic, but we are here. Every meal matters and we are changing lives every day.”

SKY 12 - The Hub for Community Innovation

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