By Jasmine Stark
Just off Georgia Highway 129, on the east side of Macon, sits a large facility dedicated to feeding the food insecure of Middle Georgia.
The Middle Georgia Community Food Bank (MGCFB) serves twenty-four counties, including Monroe County. Through its partnerships with food pantries, soup kitchens, and other food programs, the MGCFB aims to feed the estimated one hundred and six thousand people who are food insecure within its service area.
Every year, millions of pounds of food pass through this facility. The food is donated and delivered by a combination of individuals, organizations, and corporations. Once it arrives at the facility, it is sorted and stored in the warehouse, which includes a large refrigeration room as well as a freezer big enough to play a game of basketball in.
From here, the food needs to be distributed to the people who need it, and that is where the MGCFB’s roughly two hundred and forty partner agencies come in. Over half of the MGCFB’s partner agencies are non-profit organizations or churches that operate food pantries. These food pantries are run mainly by volunteers and provide food that people in need can take home to cook for themselves and their families.
Some of the partnering agencies operate food kitchens that cook the food and provide hot meals to those who come to be fed.
The rest of the agencies run other programs that aim to get food into the hands of the people who need it. A popular program that many of these other partner agencies run is the Backpack Buddies Program. This program partners with the public school systems to provide backpacks full of food for school-age children to take home every weekend.
Regardless of the methods the agencies use to distribute the food, they can all place orders through the MGCFB. In order to cover some of their labor and electricity costs, the MGCFB charges their partner agencies a small service fee of just nineteen cents per pound of food.
Once orders are placed, the food is packaged and either loaded onto the MGCFB’s truck to be delivered to partner agencies or picked up by those agencies directly.
Monroe County currently has four food pantries that partner with the Middle Georgia Food Bank:
F.A.T. (Isaiah 58:10) Ministries, Inc. is located in Macon, GA, at 6209 US Hwy 41 S Bldg C and is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM. You can also contact them by calling (478) 808-2398.
The Community Care Council, also known as the Circle of Care, is located in Forsyth, GA, at 52 W Adams Street and is open on the second Wednesday of each month from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM. You can contact them by calling (478) 994-4939.
St. James Baptist Church, also located in Forsyth, GA, is open on the 4th Tuesday of every month from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM. They can be found at 110 James Street. If you want to contact them, you can do so by calling (478) 394-0390.
Bethany Baptist Church – Bread and Blessings is open in Juliette, GA, from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM every Monday at 365 Pea Ridge Road. They can be contacted by calling (478) 974-0002.
In addition to these pantries, several other Monroe-based agencies partner with the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank to provide food to students at Monroe County schools through the Backpack Buddies Program.
Monroe County Schools Backpack Buddies Program is organized and run by Jessica Evans, who works for the Monroe County School System. Several churches partner with Monroe County Schools and the MGCFB to package backpacks with four meals each to send home with school age children every weekend.
The First Baptist Church of Forsyth and Mt. Zion Baptist Church of Macon are two such churches, packing thirty and twenty five backpacks weekly.
Last year, the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank distributed 10.5 million pounds of food, 2 million pounds of which were fresh produce, 2.6 million pounds of meat and other protein, and 2.1 million pounds of canned and frozen fruits and vegetables. That equates to about 9.1 million meals, with 8.6 million meals provided through direct food assistance. They also helped 979 people apply for SNAP benefits, which provided another 452 thousand meals. The Backpack Buddies Program served over six thousand school-aged children last year.
With one in seven people and one in four children in Georgia not knowing where their next meal is coming from, the work done by the MGCFB and its partners is absolutely vital to the health of our community.
The Middle Georgia Community Food Bank is funded through many sources, including the USDA, Feeding Georgia, Feeding America, community grants, as well as individual donors.
They also partner with many corporations who donate food and occasionally provide monetary support. These partners include retail organizations like Dollar General, Publix, Kroger, and Walmart, as well as food processors like Tyson, Perdue, and Frito-Lay.
Other organizations help in a variety of ways, including the Darden Restaurant Group, which owns brands like Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse and provided the Middle Georgia Food Bank with a truck to transport food.
I asked the people who run the food bank about their biggest challenges and was told that getting food is easier than making sure it gets to the right places.
“The agencies that we partner with, who distribute the food that we receive to the people that need it, work hard and do fantastic work, but we could always use more,” said Jackson Daniel, a philanthropy professional at the MGCFB. “Ideally, we would like to have enough food pantries and soup kitchens so that no matter which county someone is located in or what day or time it is, there is a place available for them to pick up food or get a hot meal, but we’re not there yet.”
The Middle Georgia Community Food Bank is always open to partnering with new agencies that want to help close the gaps in their food distribution network. If you are part of a non-profit or church here in Monroe County that is not yet partnered with the MGCFB, head to mgcfb.org/agency-resources/ to learn more about becoming a partner agency.
If you want to help as an individual, feel free to reach out to the food pantries and other agencies near you to ask if they need volunteers and/or donations. The Middle Georgia Food Bank updates its partner agency list monthly on their website at mgcfb.org/find-healthy-food/.
The MGCFB also accepts volunteers and both monetary and food donations. Go to mgcfb.org/volunteer/ to learn more about MGCFB volunteering opportunities. You can also go to mgcfb.org/donate-money or mgcfb.org/donate-food to donate.
Lastly, we know it can be hard to ask for help when you need it, but the people at the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank and each of their partnering agencies want you to know that they are here for you whenever you need them.
No one should have to worry about where their next meal is coming from, so if you are, please reach out.
Any one of these agencies would be happy to help.
Ending Hunger, Together: The Middle Georgia Food Bank’s Community Partnerships
By Jasmine Stark
Just off Georgia Highway 129, on the east side of Macon, sits a large facility dedicated to feeding the food insecure of Middle Georgia.
The Middle Georgia Community Food Bank (MGCFB) serves twenty-four counties, including Monroe County. Through its partnerships with food pantries, soup kitchens, and other food programs, the MGCFB aims to feed the estimated one hundred and six thousand people who are food insecure within its service area.
Every year, millions of pounds of food pass through this facility. The food is donated and delivered by a combination of individuals, organizations, and corporations. Once it arrives at the facility, it is sorted and stored in the warehouse, which includes a large refrigeration room as well as a freezer big enough to play a game of basketball in.
From here, the food needs to be distributed to the people who need it, and that is where the MGCFB’s roughly two hundred and forty partner agencies come in. Over half of the MGCFB’s partner agencies are non-profit organizations or churches that operate food pantries. These food pantries are run mainly by volunteers and provide food that people in need can take home to cook for themselves and their families.
Some of the partnering agencies operate food kitchens that cook the food and provide hot meals to those who come to be fed.
The rest of the agencies run other programs that aim to get food into the hands of the people who need it. A popular program that many of these other partner agencies run is the Backpack Buddies Program. This program partners with the public school systems to provide backpacks full of food for school-age children to take home every weekend.
Regardless of the methods the agencies use to distribute the food, they can all place orders through the MGCFB. In order to cover some of their labor and electricity costs, the MGCFB charges their partner agencies a small service fee of just nineteen cents per pound of food.
Once orders are placed, the food is packaged and either loaded onto the MGCFB’s truck to be delivered to partner agencies or picked up by those agencies directly.
Monroe County currently has four food pantries that partner with the Middle Georgia Food Bank:
F.A.T. (Isaiah 58:10) Ministries, Inc. is located in Macon, GA, at 6209 US Hwy 41 S Bldg C and is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM. You can also contact them by calling (478) 808-2398.
The Community Care Council, also known as the Circle of Care, is located in Forsyth, GA, at 52 W Adams Street and is open on the second Wednesday of each month from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM. You can contact them by calling (478) 994-4939.
St. James Baptist Church, also located in Forsyth, GA, is open on the 4th Tuesday of every month from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM. They can be found at 110 James Street. If you want to contact them, you can do so by calling (478) 394-0390.
Bethany Baptist Church – Bread and Blessings is open in Juliette, GA, from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM every Monday at 365 Pea Ridge Road. They can be contacted by calling (478) 974-0002.
In addition to these pantries, several other Monroe-based agencies partner with the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank to provide food to students at Monroe County schools through the Backpack Buddies Program.
Monroe County Schools Backpack Buddies Program is organized and run by Jessica Evans, who works for the Monroe County School System. Several churches partner with Monroe County Schools and the MGCFB to package backpacks with four meals each to send home with school age children every weekend.
The First Baptist Church of Forsyth and Mt. Zion Baptist Church of Macon are two such churches, packing thirty and twenty five backpacks weekly.
Last year, the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank distributed 10.5 million pounds of food, 2 million pounds of which were fresh produce, 2.6 million pounds of meat and other protein, and 2.1 million pounds of canned and frozen fruits and vegetables. That equates to about 9.1 million meals, with 8.6 million meals provided through direct food assistance. They also helped 979 people apply for SNAP benefits, which provided another 452 thousand meals. The Backpack Buddies Program served over six thousand school-aged children last year.
With one in seven people and one in four children in Georgia not knowing where their next meal is coming from, the work done by the MGCFB and its partners is absolutely vital to the health of our community.
The Middle Georgia Community Food Bank is funded through many sources, including the USDA, Feeding Georgia, Feeding America, community grants, as well as individual donors.
They also partner with many corporations who donate food and occasionally provide monetary support. These partners include retail organizations like Dollar General, Publix, Kroger, and Walmart, as well as food processors like Tyson, Perdue, and Frito-Lay.
Other organizations help in a variety of ways, including the Darden Restaurant Group, which owns brands like Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse and provided the Middle Georgia Food Bank with a truck to transport food.
I asked the people who run the food bank about their biggest challenges and was told that getting food is easier than making sure it gets to the right places.
“The agencies that we partner with, who distribute the food that we receive to the people that need it, work hard and do fantastic work, but we could always use more,” said Jackson Daniel, a philanthropy professional at the MGCFB. “Ideally, we would like to have enough food pantries and soup kitchens so that no matter which county someone is located in or what day or time it is, there is a place available for them to pick up food or get a hot meal, but we’re not there yet.”
The Middle Georgia Community Food Bank is always open to partnering with new agencies that want to help close the gaps in their food distribution network. If you are part of a non-profit or church here in Monroe County that is not yet partnered with the MGCFB, head to mgcfb.org/agency-resources/ to learn more about becoming a partner agency.
If you want to help as an individual, feel free to reach out to the food pantries and other agencies near you to ask if they need volunteers and/or donations. The Middle Georgia Food Bank updates its partner agency list monthly on their website at mgcfb.org/find-healthy-food/.
The MGCFB also accepts volunteers and both monetary and food donations. Go to mgcfb.org/volunteer/ to learn more about MGCFB volunteering opportunities. You can also go to mgcfb.org/donate-money or mgcfb.org/donate-food to donate.
Lastly, we know it can be hard to ask for help when you need it, but the people at the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank and each of their partnering agencies want you to know that they are here for you whenever you need them.
No one should have to worry about where their next meal is coming from, so if you are, please reach out.
Any one of these agencies would be happy to help.
