A growing number of metro Atlanta families are taking steps to help feed their hungry neighbors, and some are doing so without leaving home.
They’ve signed on to be donors or volunteers with their local PORCH, a concept developed by three North Carolina women during the last major recession over a decade ago.
PORCH (People Offering Relief for Chapel Hill) has been replicated in over 30 cities in nine states, including Marietta and Decatur in Georgia.
Pike County in Middle Georgia recently set up Georgia’s third PORCH chapter and follows the Chapel Hill model. Volunteers determine their community food banks’ most significant needs each month. They reach out to their neighbors for help and then collect donors’ nonperishables on their front porches for disbursement to food banks.
Liz Platner, founder of Porch Marietta, said the program works because it’s easier for donors and volunteers.
“Anyone from kids to seniors can help with just a small monthly time commitment,” she said.
It’s consistent: there’s a regular schedule for donors and food pantries. It’s flexible: pantries can request specific food items they need each month. And there’s little personal data required of the people who receive free food from the food banks, Platner said.
“That’s especially important as people are increasingly wary of sharing their data,” she said.
The porch program in Marietta has exploded since the two PORCHs were spotlighted in March in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Inspire Atlanta feature.