Alicia Rivera started serving 400 plates of food to hungry folks in 2010. What started as a mission to take meals to parks and other outdoor venues quickly morphed into a food pantry and a full-time job during the pandemic.
Rivera turned an office with some extra rooms into the headquarters of Feeding GA Families, a nonprofit that supports those who don’t qualify for government assistance.
“We’re seeing a huge growth in the numbers of people who are over the income limits for assistance and others whose benefits have been cut,” Rivera said. “They still needed help, and they’ve become one of our major focuses. Here, if you need help even for one week, you have a place to get assistance.”
Today, Rivera and her team have a drive-up pantry in College Park where folks from Gwinnett to La Grange come for foodstuffs.
“We offer healthy and dietary restricted foods, so even if someone is vegan or has moral restrictions, they can get food here,” she said.
The nonprofit also partners with churches and small organizations across the state that come to the pantry for supplies, and a mobile pantry takes items to groups that can’t make it to College Park. Once a month, a free hot meal is served through a partnership with The Good Charcoal, a New York-based company that sells sustainably sourced charcoal from African acacia.
“We found them on the internet and asked if they were open to us bringing our barbecue truck,” said Good Charcoal CEO Ben Jablonski. “We try to find programs like Feeding GA Families that do good work and partner with them. It’s become part of the culture of our company.”
On barbecue days, cars often line up for more than a mile, Jablonski said. “We ask if they want chicken, pork or a vegan option. Some people take five meals because they’re getting them for their kids.”
In addition to helping with hot food, Jablonski’s company recently made an $18,000 donation to support Rivera’s efforts to expand the nonprofit’s reach. And it might help beyond feeding people, said Jablonski.
“One key thing Ali speaks about that I believe in, too, is that people need a little bit of help. The money they’re saving with Feeding GA Families might allow them to get a car to drive to a job. It’s all linked.”
Information about Feeding GA Families is online at feedinggafamilies.org.
Who’s doing good? Each week, we write about a deserving individual, charity events such as fun-runs, volunteer projects and other community gatherings that benefit a good cause. To suggest an event or person for us to cover, contact us at ajc.doinggood@gmail.com.
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