Did you know that the Atlanta Community Food Bank was founded in 1979?  Bill Bolling started with leading food ministries at his church, recognizing the connection between the Biblical foundation of feeding the poor and the need of the Atlanta metro area.  The ACFB is one of the first agencies of its kind in the Southeast, where hunger wasn’t just physical but also emotional and spiritual.  The goal of the ACFB is bold but simple: all hungry people across Greater Atlanta and North Georgia will have access to the nutritious meals they need when they need them.  Since 1979, the ACFB has distributed 1 billion meals into the Atlanta metro community.   

As they say, it takes a village. 

Instead of focusing on single or individual needs, as most church soup kitchens were doing, Bill Bolling moved beyond who one church could serve out of its basement.  He pulled in community partners and supporters. 

In his first year, his “Community Kitchen” distributed 15,279 ponds of food to 25 partner organizations.  The concept of a partner organization receiving resources from a larger distribution site (or kitchen in this case) is the same model that launched Feeding America.  As the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization, Feeding America has a top-down structure to feed individuals across the nation, working with over 200 food banks.  These food banks then distribute food to community-based food pantries.  Individuals can then access their food pantries directly. 

Bill Bolling implemented the same structure for local/regional hunger relief and the Atlanta Community Food Bank (ACFB) was born.  Last year, ACFB worked with nearly 700 community-based nonprofit partners across 29 counties to distribute 112 million+ meals across metro Atlanta and north Georgia.   

The Giving Hands Food Pantry is one of the many community partners, who in turn were able to feed 24,124 local people last year.  That averages 2010 people and 37,788 pounds of food each month.  This is made possible by the partnership with ACFB as well as the many community partners that support the Giving Hands Food Pantry. 

It truly takes a village. 

The village might host canned food drives like The Covington News and BD.  The village might organize a Peanut Butter and Jelly Drive like the Eastside National Honors Society.  The village might raise money by bringing a team to walk in the Hunger Walk like Beaver Manufacturing. 

The first Atlanta Hunger Walk began in 1984 as a grassroots movement to increase awareness of food insecurity and raise funds for the ACFB to provide meals to neighbors in need.  This annual event has grown so large that it now happens at The Home Depot Backyard (at Mercedes-Benz Stadium).  They even have a Spotify playlist.  (If you don’t know what that is, don’t worry, you are not their target audience.)  They also support satellite and virtual walks in their partnering communities. 

The Giving Hands Food Pantry will host the local Hunger Walk on Sunday, March 13.  Churches, student groups, companies, individuals, and families are invited to come out to walk in solidarity.  Our village is demonstrating the belief that no one in our community should go without such a basic need as food.   

You can register online at givinghandsfoodpantry.org/events or on site the day of.  Donations of any amount are welcome and can be made online or in person.  

One step at a time, one dollar at a time, all funds raised here are designated to feed our neighbors here in Covington and Newton County, through the partnership with the ACFB.  The mission of the Giving Hands Food Pantry is to provide nutritious food while increasing guests’ choice and dignity in order to end hunger in our community. 

Come walk your village. 

Hosanna Fletcher believes in the power of community and has worked in nonprofits, government, and for-profits serving the community for the last 20 years. She is a full-time faculty member at Georgia State University teaching on the Newton campus and online. She also works with the Giving Hands Food Pantry on Community Outreach. To reach Hosanna about volunteering with or donating to the Food Pantry, please email community@covingtonfirst.org.