Second Harvest South Georgia - 2020 Summer Newsletter

Voices from the

Community

“Thank you so much for the two distributions I have received. My husband was diagnosed with brain cancer in December. I’ve only been able to work for two months since then. Funds are tight, so your monthly distribution helped us tremendously in May and June. God bless you!”

“You make it look easy! I am very grateful that we have an organization like Second Harvest in our corner during this pandemic. It gives me hope and makes me feel secure that my kids don’t have to face hunger.”

SUMMER NEWSLETTER | 2020

Inside:

A Message from CEO Frank Richards

“Thank you for your constant dedication to the surrounding communities.”

“Thanks so much for the food we received in Tifton. My fiancée and I are not working. We don’t receive food stamps. This was a real blessing at a good time. May God richly bless you—you are wonderful!”

“I just want to say thank you to everyone who makes it possible to get lunches and breakfasts.

My son looks forward to Mondays and Thursdays, and it helps relieve some stress on me.”

COVID-19

Relief

Facts & Figures Know someone who needs help? Call our helpline at 888-453-4143.

Voices

from the

Mailing Address: A MEMBER OF FEEDING AMERICA

Get Social!

SecondHarvestSGA 1411 Harbin Circle Valdosta, GA 31601 229.244.2678 | www.FeedingSGA.org

SecondHarvest

Community

Finding the

Silver Lining

Second Harvest of South Georgia is diligently working to provide for the communities we serve under these extraordinary circumstances.

We had been following the situation closely since the end of February. Because we were prepared, we were able to immediately spring into action.

On the best of days, 1 in 4 children in South Georgia doesn’t have a stable source of food at home. The pandemic has compounded our already existing food insecurity crisis. It creates a secondary disaster. In addition to those who were previously struggling to put food on the table, we are getting a record number of requests from working families who have never needed assistance until now.

We are staying as nimble and flexible as possible to meet the needs of South Georgia communities, both large and small, as they evolve. Normally, we would be working primarily through our network of partner agencies for much of our distribution, but since this began, we have had to change the way we serve our neighbors in need. I’m proud to say that our team has risen to the occasion.

Facts & Figures

Between March and June of this year, Second Harvest of South Georgia has:

Friends, It’s hard to know where to start when discussing 2020. As cliché as it has become by now, the only accurate term is unprecedented.

Covid-19 Relief

We’ve more than doubled the amount of food we’ve distributed over this time last year.

That’s a tremendous feat, but one we have not accomplished alone. If there were a silver lining to this pandemic, it’s the partnerships we’ve been able to expand and the new ones we’ve been able to forge in the midst of this crisis. These relationships have made our work possible over the last few months.

■

Distributed 6.97 million lbs. of food through partner agencies, mass food distributions, and Manna Drops.

■

Served 25,028 families at mass food distributions.

■

Distributed 255,662 lbs. of fresh produce through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program.

■

Received 6,912 hours of service from the Georgia National Guard.

■

Provided 282,398 breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks to children in need.

■

Served the equivalent of 6,561,674 meals.

■

Distributed a total of $10,066,230.61 worth of food.

Special thanks to ABAC, Georgia Museum of Agriculture, Georgia National Guard, Georgia State Defense Force, Thomas County Schools, USDA, and Valdosta City Schools—all of whom were critical to our mission.

We don’t know how long we will be in the midst of this public health crisis, but rest assured Second Harvest will be here as long as South Georgia needs us.

With utmost gratitude,

Franklin J. Richards, II CEO, Second Harvest of South Georgia

Ready to Serve Second Harvest Calls on the National Guard and GSDF As the COVID-19 pandemic took our community by storm, our warehouse quickly moved from normal operations into disaster relief. We created safety protocols based on available information from the CDC and the Department of Health.

Unfortunately, this led to the temporary closure of our community volunteer program. Without the extra hands, we quickly realized that we would need assistance in order to meet the surging need created by a global pandemic.

After closing our warehouse to community volunteers, we received our first group of soldiers from the Georgia State Defense Force (GSDF).

For a little over two months, GSDF soldiers

assisted our operations by building shelfsustainable pantry boxes and working alongside employees at food distributions, handing out pantry boxes as well as other foods. When the GSDF soldiers were reassigned to other aspects of pandemic relief, members of the Georgia National Guard were sent to our warehouse to fill the void. The National Guard soldiers quickly picked up where the GSDF left off, and now they have become a significant part of our daily operations. Thanks to the assistance of both the GSDF and the Georgia National Guard, we have more than doubled our efforts to relieve food insecurity during this public health crisis. ■

Finding the

Silver Lining

Second Harvest of South Georgia is diligently working to provide for the communities we serve under these extraordinary circumstances.

We had been following the situation closely since the end of February. Because we were prepared, we were able to immediately spring into action.

On the best of days, 1 in 4 children in South Georgia doesn’t have a stable source of food at home. The pandemic has compounded our already existing food insecurity crisis. It creates a secondary disaster. In addition to those who were previously struggling to put food on the table, we are getting a record number of requests from working families who have never needed assistance until now.

We are staying as nimble and flexible as possible to meet the needs of South Georgia communities, both large and small, as they evolve. Normally, we would be working primarily through our network of partner agencies for much of our distribution, but since this began, we have had to change the way we serve our neighbors in need. I’m proud to say that our team has risen to the occasion.

Facts & Figures

Between March and June of this year, Second Harvest of South Georgia has:

Friends, It’s hard to know where to start when discussing 2020. As cliché as it has become by now, the only accurate term is unprecedented.

Covid-19 Relief

We’ve more than doubled the amount of food we’ve distributed over this time last year.

That’s a tremendous feat, but one we have not accomplished alone. If there were a silver lining to this pandemic, it’s the partnerships we’ve been able to expand and the new ones we’ve been able to forge in the midst of this crisis. These relationships have made our work possible over the last few months.

■

Distributed 6.97 million lbs. of food through partner agencies, mass food distributions, and Manna Drops.

■

Served 25,028 families at mass food distributions.

■

Distributed 255,662 lbs. of fresh produce through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program.

■

Received 6,912 hours of service from the Georgia National Guard.

■

Provided 282,398 breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks to children in need.

■

Served the equivalent of 6,561,674 meals.

■

Distributed a total of $10,066,230.61 worth of food.

Special thanks to ABAC, Georgia Museum of Agriculture, Georgia National Guard, Georgia State Defense Force, Thomas County Schools, USDA, and Valdosta City Schools—all of whom were critical to our mission.

We don’t know how long we will be in the midst of this public health crisis, but rest assured Second Harvest will be here as long as South Georgia needs us.

With utmost gratitude,

Franklin J. Richards, II CEO, Second Harvest of South Georgia

Ready to Serve Second Harvest Calls on the National Guard and GSDF As the COVID-19 pandemic took our community by storm, our warehouse quickly moved from normal operations into disaster relief. We created safety protocols based on available information from the CDC and the Department of Health.

Unfortunately, this led to the temporary closure of our community volunteer program. Without the extra hands, we quickly realized that we would need assistance in order to meet the surging need created by a global pandemic.

After closing our warehouse to community volunteers, we received our first group of soldiers from the Georgia State Defense Force (GSDF).

For a little over two months, GSDF soldiers

assisted our operations by building shelfsustainable pantry boxes and working alongside employees at food distributions, handing out pantry boxes as well as other foods. When the GSDF soldiers were reassigned to other aspects of pandemic relief, members of the Georgia National Guard were sent to our warehouse to fill the void. The National Guard soldiers quickly picked up where the GSDF left off, and now they have become a significant part of our daily operations. Thanks to the assistance of both the GSDF and the Georgia National Guard, we have more than doubled our efforts to relieve food insecurity during this public health crisis. ■

Voices from the

Community

“Thank you so much for the two distributions I have received. My husband was diagnosed with brain cancer in December. I’ve only been able to work for two months since then. Funds are tight, so your monthly distribution helped us tremendously in May and June. God bless you!”

“You make it look easy! I am very grateful that we have an organization like Second Harvest in our corner during this pandemic. It gives me hope and makes me feel secure that my kids don’t have to face hunger.”

SUMMER NEWSLETTER | 2020

Inside:

A Message from CEO Frank Richards

“Thank you for your constant dedication to the surrounding communities.”

“Thanks so much for the food we received in Tifton. My fiancée and I are not working. We don’t receive food stamps. This was a real blessing at a good time. May God richly bless you—you are wonderful!”

“I just want to say thank you to everyone who makes it possible to get lunches and breakfasts.

My son looks forward to Mondays and Thursdays, and it helps relieve some stress on me.”

COVID-19

Relief

Facts & Figures Know someone who needs help? Call our helpline at 888-453-4143.

Voices

from the

Mailing Address: A MEMBER OF FEEDING AMERICA

Get Social!

SecondHarvestSGA 1411 Harbin Circle Valdosta, GA 31601 229.244.2678 | www.FeedingSGA.org

SecondHarvest

Community