Gayla smiles as NJROTC volunteers pack groceries into cars. She was one of hundreds of neighbors to pick up fresh produce at our distribution. Hundreds of neighbors waited patiently in the car line outside of our Augusta warehouse. Our Food Bank had just received a large shipment of fresh produce, and teams of JROTC students joined alongside our staff to pack trunks full of groceries. For Gayla, the distribution was a huge help. Like many of our neighbors, she has been experiencing lower SNAP benefits and inflated food prices at the grocery store. “It’s going to help [...]

Volunteers from Nutrien helped sort and package tomatoes to be distributed directly to families. After a few years of planning and executing, we are finally welcoming in our community members to join alongside us at our new Volunteer Center! Thank you for being patient as we expanded our facilities to better serve our neighbors in need. The new space allows us to increase the number of people necessary to help advance our mission of feeding those in need. We can now also better support our agency partners, who stand on the frontlines of combating food insecurity across [...]

Every November, employees of Equity Residential, a multi-family real estate investment trust, unite for their Community Giving Month. Locally, the accounting office dedicates their time to volunteering with Golden Harvest sorting and packing food items at our volunteer center, and preparing and serving meals at The Master’s Table soup kitchen. Over the past few years, the organization has focused on issues surrounding food insecurity, and have spent 200 hours during the month supporting Golden Harvest’s efforts of ending hunger in its service area. “No matter where you volunteer or what method you volunteer with Golden Harvest, I definitely feel [...]

Project Life staff and volunteers gather in the clothing sorting area, where donated clothes are processed. The organization serves guests 3 days a week. Project Life, an organization that has provided hope to thousands of neighbors since 1997, has moved into a new space: a former car dealership, complete with a thriving food pantry and clothing closet. The new facility provides more space for the food pantry and behind-the-scenes operations, allowing Project Life volunteers to serve more guests. “We continued to see more and more people each week, each year, and we just felt it was time [...]

Whether sorting and packing groceries at the Faith Food Factory or serving lunch at The Master’s Table soup kitchen, for 10 years, dedicated volunteer Alvin Williams has been working hard to put food on the table for our neighbors in need. “I’m from a very poor family in New York, and we never had much,” he said. “But God took my family and I all over the world, and it was time for me to give back.” Mr. Williams is a team player and is always willing to take on any task necessary to help get the job done. [...]

Gloria Simmons, food pantry manager at Hancock Helping Hands, is dedicated to helping her neighbors in Sparta, GA. Bustling with volunteers packing food boxes, greeting guests in line, and loading cars with groceries, Hancock Helping Hands has been helping neighbors in Sparta, GA, for over 28 years. Food pantry manager Gloria Simmons said the organization has been serving an unprecedented number of families lately, with about 600 visitors per month. “In the last few years, it has grown tremendously,” said Gloria. With just one small IGA in town, access to healthy meals is a challenge for many Sparta [...]

Golden Harvest Food Bank staff alongside local and state elected officials during Feeding The Future roundtable discussion. At a time when the number of people visiting Golden Harvest Food Bank for food resources continues to rise, elected officials are drafting legislation to govern the food programs that we use to help feed our neighbors. Every five years, Congress reauthorizes the farm bill, the centerpiece of federal legislation that provides healthy, nutritious food for those across the country facing food insecurity. Programs that the Food Bank depends on to help alleviate hunger in our community, like SNAP (Supplemental [...]

Colton volunteers alongside his parents, Hannah and Danny, as well as his siblings at Unity Outreach. The cost of a trip to the grocery store has skyrocketed in the last year, and local families are feeling the impact. At the Unity Outreach Church Food Pantry, Hannah, Danny, and their children have taken home much-appreciated fresh and nonperishable items for their kitchen. “It’s helped us out a lot. We have a family of 10, and so with groceries as high as they are, it’s definitely helped us out tremendously,” said Hannah. The food pantry at Unity Outreach hosts [...]

.j A joint letter to our leaders and community members from Amy Breitmann, President and CEO of Golden Harvest Food Bank, and Brittany Burnett, President and CEO of United Way of the CSRA As we walked together through the warehouse at Golden Harvest Food Bank's Augusta distribution center, we paused to look at the long line of shelves before us. Where there were once rows full of palletized foods ready to be distributed to our partner agencies, now stood empty spaces between partially full shelves: a clear indication of the decrease in food donations and government food [...]

Shellah and DaMonda picked up food and diapers for their children at GAP Ministries, a partner agency in Downtown Augusta. With grocery bills skyrocketing, Augusta mom DaMonda knew where to find relief. GAP Ministries opens its doors every Thursday morning, providing a food pantry and other vital resources for the Downtown Augusta community. DaMonda, who had picked up groceries from GAP a few times before, brought her friend and first-time guest Shellah. “GAP Ministries is very, very helpful, especially with what’s going on right now,” said DaMonda, after shopping in the pantry. “Everything in the economy has [...]