Mike, a retired nurse, picks up food from the Greene County Food Pantry. The food helps Mike and his wife pay the bills and cook healthy meals. New client surveys from Golden Harvest will help the Food Bank better understand and serve neighbors like Mike.
Volunteers wheel grocery carts full of food out of the Greene County Food Pantry nestled inside of the Greensboro Housing Authority at Morningside Apartments in Greensboro, GA. Mike waits outside his vehicle as volunteers load 30 pounds of food into the trunk.
Mike is a retired CNA nurse who lives with his wife of 56 years. Together, they have had two children and two grandkids. She loves to cook, and he washes the dishes. “I love her to death. She’s been my partner,” he said.
The extra food from the food pantry, supplied by Golden Harvest Food Bank, has helped the couple pay the bills and cook healthy meals at home. “We’re doing pretty good. Sometimes, we struggle. The Lord sees us through it,” Mike said.
As more neighbors arrive for food assistance, a Golden Harvest staff member administers surveys to those who wish to participate. The surveys gather information around financial needs, transportation, health, and nutritional intake.
“We want to get a better understanding of the lived experiences of those we serve,” explained Anna Logan, Health and Nutrition Manager at Golden Harvest. “The surveys were offered to visitors at one or more Community Partner in each of the 25 counties we serve to ensure that needs across our service area were fully represented.”
The surveys are part of Golden Harvest’s new strategic plan, which includes expanding our reach and improving our services and programs to best serve our community. Survey data will be analyzed by Augusta University’s Dr Nicole Peritore and used to inform the Food Bank’s programmatic efforts and expansion.
“We want to make sure we are listening to the people who use our services so that we can make sure our services have the greatest impact on them and are the most beneficial to them,” Logan said.
