MACON, Ga. – Newton County Farm Bureau members recently collected donations for the Georgia Food Bank Association during the statewide Harvest for All campaign coordinated by Georgia Farm Bureau.
“We are always mindful that there are those in our community who have difficulty feeding their families,” said Brent Galloway, Newton County Farm Bureau president. “The 2014 Harvest For All Campaign was an opportunity for us to make a difference for these families, and we were proud to do our part.”
Georgia Farm Bureau’s statewide 2014 Harvest for All Campaign, coordinated by the GFB Young Farmer Committee, raised $20,000, which was presented to Georgia Food Bank Association (GFBA) Executive Director Danah Craft during the 2014 Georgia Farm Bureau convention on Jekyll Island. The GFBA uses donated dollars to purchase high-protein, low-cost foods like chicken and peanut butter and to offset the costs of various outreach programs like mobile pantries, Manna drops and backpack programs. The GFBA also uses donated funds to offset the costs, like packaging and transportation, of picking up donated food from large donors, many of them farmers. The GFBA will distribute the funds to eight regional food banks around the state.
According to the GFBA, 18.9 percent of Georgians live in food insecure households, meaning they do not always know where they will find their next meal. Georgia’s food insecurity percentage is higher than the national average and includes more than 700,000 children.
Past Harvest For All campaigns have solicited direct donations of food. The 2010 drive focused on cash contributions. Since 2004, GFB has coordinated 10 campaigns through which GFB members from across the state have donated approximately 49,000 pounds of staple food items and more than $120,000 in cash donations distributed to food banks located throughout Georgia affiliated with Feeding America.
Founded in 1937, Georgia Farm Bureau is the state’s largest general farm organization and has 158 county offices. Its volunteer members actively participate in local, state and national activities that promote agriculture awareness to their non-farming neighbors. GFB also has 20 agricultural commodity advisory committees that give the organization input on issues pertinent to the major crops and livestock grown in Georgia.
