‘It’s going to get better.’ Organizations battle food insecurity in Middle GA
On April 9, the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank organized a distribution event to give away approximately 30,000 meals. It was the largest relief effort in the nonprofit’s history.
Between 1,000 and 1,200 vehicles went through the Macon Coliseum parking lot, with drivers receiving boxes of food designed to feed a family of four for a week. The lines of cars backed up traffic in downtown Macon for hours, and by 1:45 p.m., all the food was gone.
Later that month, the food bank gave away twice as much food: 60,000 meals. And the need has likely grown, according to food bank’s Executive Director Kathy McCollum.
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated an existing problem in Bibb County: thousands of residents, many of them children, regularly skip meals, rely on schools for food or visit a local pantry. Horace Holmes Jr., pastor of World Changers Church Macon, said his church has worked with the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank for the past several years, operating as one of the food bank’s pantries. That, he said, was like playing a regular season NFL game. Serving the community during the pandemic?
“It’s like playing the Super Bowl every week,” he said.
A persistent need
The food bank serves 24 Middle Georgia counties with 170 distribution sites — civic organizations, food pantries and churches — manned by volunteers. Volunteers also assist in sorting and storing food in the food bank’s warehouse, preparing boxes and working distribution events.
COVID-19 changed all of that. The food bank isn’t allowing volunteers in their warehouse for health and safety reasons, and volunteers — many of them retirees more at-risk of serious illness or death from the coronavirus — have been more hesitant to work at distribution sites. And some of those sites have had to change their hours, temporarily close their doors or require people to make appointments.
Another source of consistent meals for children are schools, which provide breakfast and lunch five days a week. Districts have worked hard to provide meals to children, even during remote learning days, but the result is still less food for area kids. That contributes to rising food insecurity: when people don’t have the resources they need to provide nutritious food for themselves and their family, to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
McCollum, the food bank’s executive director, said the organization distributed 50% more food in the second quarter — April through June — than the first three months of the year. With some distribution locations shut down, the food bank has used mobile events to get food to those in need, which includes people who have never requested assistance before. A list of distribution sites and times can be found on the food bank’s website (mgcfb.org) and a schedule of mobile distribution events is posted to their Facebook page every Monday.
“It’s amazing to me how people’s hearts have been touched; we’re getting a lot of first time donations,” McCollum said. “Food insecurity has really come closer to home. Whether they’ve had a family member whose hours were cut or lost a job or was furloughed, we’re hoping we can build on that new awareness to lessen the amount of food insecurity.”
‘Love will break down barriers’
Pastor Horace Holmes Jr. said his church has been providing food for almost a decade, called by the example of Jesus Christ to provide for people’s physical needs in addition to their spiritual ones.
Holmes said the need is great: at one distribution event scheduled to open at 11 a.m., cars began lining up before 7. Some folks are embarrassed at having to ask for help, but he said he does his best to set them at ease.
“We have an opportunity to love on people, and love will break down any barrier,” he said. “Nobody in Macon and Middle Georgia should ever go without food. If you don’t have food in your home, come to us, come to our drive-thru. Whatever resources we have, however small they may be — some people may say it’s not enough — if we ask the Lord to bless it, our pantries won’t run dry. It takes people of a willing heart to get out of their comfort zone.”
Several years ago, the church adopted L.H. Williams Elementary School in Macon’s Pleasant Hill neighborhood. After Bibb County Schools went to virtual learning, Holmes said the church sent parents vouchers to sent up an appointment and pick up boxes of food. He added the church has partnered with the United Way, the school district — the district staffed a distribution event last week — and other agencies to serve the community.
“How can we still meet the needs of people in a pandemic? That’s the driving force behind nearly everything we do,” he said. “We want to encourage other churches to adopt schools. You don’t have to do it on the scale we do it, but go into a school and see how you can assist one in your neighborhood.”
How you can help
Hundreds of thousands of Americans have already been vaccinated, and there is “light at the end” of the pandemic tunnel, according to Georgia health leaders. But a vaccination is likely months away for many Georgians, and the economic impact of COVID-19 will endure longer than that. For Middle Georgians who want to assist in the fight against food insecurity, especially during the holidays, there are several ways to donate.
The United Way of Central Georgia offers a simple way to donate on their website (unitedwaycg.org), and gifts can be designated to one of their partner agencies, which includes the food bank, or simply as “food.” The United Way will make sure that money goes to the food bank and other partners that provide food, including homeless shelters and resource centers.
The United Way and Community Foundation created the Central Georgia COVID-19 Recovery & Response Fund in the spring to direct resources directly to agencies working to combat the impact of the pandemic.
“Some of us have never had to worry about where our next meal comes from,” George McCanless, the United Way of Central Georgia’s president and CEO, said “When you’re talking with someone in line who has been waiting for hours for a box of food they can take home to feed their family... if that doesn’t touch the inner recesses of your heart, than nothing will. Many of us are used to going to the grocery store and going up one aisle down the other.”
The United Way has used money from the COVID-19 recovery fund to purchase food and to help the food bank and other pantries enhance their storage capacity.
“We’ve helped them get equipment they need, a freezer and refrigeration,” McCanless said. “If you don’t have refrigeration, a food pantry can only stock canned or dry goods, which becomes a logistical problem. That means the only time people can get fresh vegetables and meat is if the food bank delivers it that day.”
Donations to the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank can also be made on their website (mgcfb.org). Donations to both organizations are tax deductible. Holmes said the simplest way to donate to his church’s efforts is to donate to the food bank and ask that they designate it for the World Changers Church Macon.
The food bank’s largest donor is the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Businesses also conduct food drives during the holidays, McCollum said, and they’ve seen a lot of first-time donors as people become aware of the need. The food bank is able to purchase food at wholesale prices, which makes their dollars stretch further than if they simply purchased food off of a grocery store shelf.
The food bank can also assist families who want to sign up for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, commonly referred to as food stamps).
“I was listening to the President-elect last night, and he said it’s going to get worse before it gets better,” Holmes said. “And it’s going to get better. It’s going to take all of us to tackle this.”
