Local leaders discuss how to tackle hunger across CSRA

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Local leaders came together Thursday to address food insecurity.

We talked earlier this week about the concern over an increased need for meals this summer as kids get out of school.

Organizations across our area are seeing an increase in need, not just in kids but also in adults.

And not just for food but for other basic necessities.

The meeting on Thursday was to make sure all those needs were met.

Elected officials and community leaders from the food bank’s 25-county service area are discussing food security and collaborative efforts to close the hunger gap.

The leaders around the table started by reading flashcards from students in the area thanking Golden Harvest for their Backpack meal drives.

“The fact that children are going home in the evenings, and even throughout the summer without food. It’s just wrong on so many levels and it breaks my heart to even know

that we have to have programs like this to make sure that kids have food at home and it speaks to the urgency,” said District One Commissioner Jordan Johnson.

Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap data shows that 1 in 9 in Golden Harvest Food Bank’s service area are food-insecure, including 1 in 6 children.

“The pandemic hopefully helps the community to understand that there really isn’t a one-size-fits-all. You know, we’ve got people from all different walks of life and life experiences that are struggling with hunger,” said Golden Harvest CEO Amy Breitman.

Recognizing the roles of collaboration with elected officials and community leaders, the organization extended the invitation to legislators to engage in dialog surrounding building a stronger food system.

“The collective dedication of individuals and organizations is the driving force behind our mission to address food insecurity,” said Breitmann. “We thank our community leaders for standing alongside us. Together, as a united front, we can rewrite the narrative of hunger and build a future where every person has access to healthy, nutritious food.”

The way they are looking to address hunger has a different look.

“We have to start at our neighbors in need and understanding what exactly that is and we had one of our colleagues mentioned today meeting them where they’re at servicing them where they’re at whether that be geographically or, what they can handle as far as like cooking and access. I definitely think that that’s gonna be a very powerful part of this whole operation,” said Neighbor Advocate at Golden Harvest, Matthew Enfinger.

Other organizations like Gap Ministries look to address hunger this way by giving two options when they give food out to the community. They offer a pantry to those who have the supplies to make food and walking bags to those who don’t have the ability to cook.

Last month, they supplied 729 households with food, and 477 utilized the pantry because they had the ability to cook.

How you can help

“The biggest that we will need at Golden Harvest is going to be not just donations, but also volunteers to be able to make those boxes that we can go out and give 1,000 boxes in a day,” said LaDonna Doleman at the food bank’s Master’s Table Soup Kitchen.

More hands mean more boxes of food filled.

“Make the boxes up to put them on the line and put all the stuff in them and then reload them back up, send them back into the warehouse so that when that day come, that they can be able to distribute them, they have them all,” said Doleman.

It’s making a difference in the lives of those who need it the most.

They need canned good and financial donations, as well as volunteers to pack and distribute boxes, serve food, and cook meals at the Master’s Table.

They serve food seven days a week, 365 days a year from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.

For more information on recommended food items to donate, visit https://goldenharvest.org/donate-food/what-to-donate/ and click here to sign up to volunteer.

Coming up

Another way to help will come this weekend, during the National Association of Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive.

On Saturday, letter carriers will collect non-perishable food donations from residents nationwide to help combat food insecurity and provide food items to those in need.

Letter carriers will collect the donations as they deliver mail along their usual routes.

All donations accepted locally will be distributed by Golden Harvest Food Bank and its partner agencies across its 25-county service area.

“In the battle against hunger, unity is our greatest strength,” said Amy Breitmann, president and CEO of Golden Harvest. “Partnering with the NALC through the Stamp Out Hunger food drive each year reaffirms our dedication to our families in need and amplifies our commitment to making sure no one in our community goes hungry.”

The Stamp Out Hunger campaign has collected over 1.9 billion pounds of food for families experiencing food insecurity locally and nationwide since it was first held in 1983.

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