An Afternoon at the Atlanta Community Food Bank

It can be easy to take the food that we eat for granted. Given the busy lives that many people lead, daily meals can sometimes feel more like a routine than nourishment. For this reason, it can be quite unsettling to learn that 18.9 percent of the people living in EBSCO Research’s home state of Georgia are food insecure, meaning they don’t always know where they will find their next meal. In fact, one in every four children in our state is raised in a food-insecure household. For over 30 years, the Atlanta Community Food Bank has responded to this troubling issue by organizing the collection and distribution of food in our area. This massive operation relies on 100 hardworking staff members and over 1,000 volunteers each month. Earlier this month, 16 EBSCO Research volunteers joined in on the effort.

To fight hunger, the Atlanta Community Food Bank procures and distributes more than 50 million pounds of food and grocery products each year and distributes those products to more than 600 nonprofit partner agencies with food assistance programs. EBSCO Research’s afternoon of volunteering consisted of sorting, inspecting, and packaging these items so that they could be distributed to those in need. Throughout the afternoon, our volunteers joined other local volunteers in packaging over 12,000 pounds of food for distribution, which made over 10,000 meals possible for those in need. And the remarkable thing is that this amazing effort occurs on a daily basis because of hundreds of dedicated volunteers who want to make a difference in their community.

For our staff at EBSCO Research, this was a great opportunity to be a part of the fight against hunger and to reflect on how lucky we are. If you would like more information on the Atlanta Community Food Bank, or if you would like to volunteer, please visit www.acfb.org. If you are not in the Atlanta area, feel free to learn about the ways your community is combating hunger. You will probably find an organization similar to the Atlanta Community Food Bank that also relies on volunteers. As we learned on a warm Saturday afternoon, every little bit helps.