Second Helpings Atlanta (SHA) began as a project in 2004 at Temple Sinai Atlanta, organized and operated by congregants. Now SHA is a fully professional organization, but it’s mission is the same: rescue food that would otherwise go to waste to feed Atlanta’s hungry.
“No one should have to choose between paying a bill or buying food,” said Juliet Eden, marketing and outreach coordinator at SHA. “SHA’s tireless efforts not only provide meals to food insecure families, the organization diverts food waste from landfills, making Atlanta a more environmentally responsible metropolitan area.”
In 2021 alone, Second Helpings Atlanta was able to rescue 3,611,607 pounds of fresh, surplus food to create 3,009,672 equivalent meals.
“At the onset of the pandemic, Feeding America and The Atlanta Community Food Bank estimated that 16% of people in the 29-county service area of the food bank would be food insecure during the summer of 2020,” said Eden. “And, with school out for the summer, it estimated that 26% of children, one in four, could go hungry. SHA stepped up to tackle the demand.”
Last year SHA embarked on a new program called Meals with Meaning, which provides 8,000 meal kits to Atlantans-in-need every week through partnerships with HelloFresh, Pratt Industries, Atlanta City Council and the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs. SHA also partnered with the Atlanta Community Food Bank to launch the Atlanta Community Kitchen Project, which used underutilized corporate kitchens to make meals that SHA drove to hunger relief agencies.
“SHA recognizes that a key to its success is offering a rich, rewarding volunteer experience that has a meaningful impact in the community without having a significant impact on people’s busy schedules,” said Eden.
SHA’s 90-minute model is designed to allow volunteers to leave their home or place of work, rescue food from a food donor, deliver it to a partner agency and return home or work in 90 minutes or less, making volunteering once or repeatedly easier and more accessible.
Who’s helping?
Second Helpings Atlanta
Services: By rescuing surplus food and distributing it to agencies across Metro Atlanta, SHA serves as a link between food donors and partner agencies who feed the hungry daily.
How to help: Volunteer to make deliveries or pack meal kits by visiting secondhelpingsatlanta.org.
Where to donate: Donate at secondhelpingsatlanta.org/ways-to-give/
How to get help: Agencies interested in becoming a partner agency with SHA can apply here: https://live-second-helpings-atlanta.pantheonsite.io/new-partner-agency-online-
request-form/
If you are involved in or know of an organization working to bring relief to the Atlanta community during the coronavirus pandemic OR you are with an organization with supplies that you don’t know where to donate, please email us at Shannon.n.Dominy@gmail.com.
About the Author
