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The federal government is a dumpster 🔥. The NCGA is terrifying.

Local is where we can move quickly, help our community thrive, and track our progress. 

It’s amazing what we can accomplish when we work together. And we’re going to work together on this: PORCH Chapel Hill-Carrboro needs $10,000 to bridge a significant gap in food donations during the summer months. This donation button goes directly to PORCH:

If you have been avoiding the news cycle – who hasn’t! – you may have missed a really powerful article in IndyWeek about food insecurity in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. And if you’re receiving increasingly panicky emails from Nancy Pelosi every five minutes, you may have overlooked a recent newsletter from PORCH Chapel Hill-Carrboro. They stated that they were short over 1,000 items for their June collections for families in our community. They anticipate even larger shortages in June and July.

We can’t do much about DC 😱, but with your help, we can help PORCH and ensure that families in Chapel Hill and Carrboro are not going hungry this summer.

donate-porch

Here’s what we’re going to do.

You (and we) are going to donate money to PORCH to fill the significant gap in food donations during the summer months and make sure all referred families to PORCH can receive healthy food this upcoming school year. This donation button goes directly to PORCH:

Tell me more

Each June, food donations go down in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. This is bad timing. Kids are out of school and families struggle more in summer months to provide full, nutritious meals for their children. We have illustrated this here:

And then each August, social workers across our school district refer new kids and families to PORCH. PORCH provides families with monthly distribution of a variety of fresh food – like milk, eggs, fruits, and vegetables – and makes sure that students have healthy snacks at schools. 

Here’s what that influx of new families looks like:

$10,000 will help PORCH bridge the significant gap in food donations during the summer months. It will allow them to provide all the families they serve with a full bag of pantry staples each month – matching donations to families who need them. Here’s what that will look like.

What’s in the box?

Glad you asked! PORCH provides a full bag of nonperishable groceries, a 25 lb box of produce, gallon of milk, 2 dozen eggs, and gift card to each of the 663 families they work with every month.

What will PORCH do with $10,000 from blogbloggers?

PORCH is a partner agency with the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, which means they purchase much-needed items below retail prices. They can stretch our financial donation to ensure greater access to pantry staples and fresh, healthy food for our families over the summer months.

PORCH breaks this up into smaller increments:

  • $30 can help PORCH bridge the gap for 2 families.
  • $60 will ensure full bags for 4 families.
  • $100 means 7 families will receive all food categories for every summer food distribution.

What if we raise more than $10,000?

PORCH will also be able to provide additional hearty snack packs– think tuna salad packets with crackers – during the summer.

And PORCH will be able to say YES to more families who are referred this fall, thanks to TBB readers. Each additional $100 feeds another family each month. Each additional $1200 feeds another family for the entire year (bag of groceries, box of produce, gift card, gallon of milk, and 2 dozen eggs).

“Our goal is to avoid a waitlist, and we’d love if TBB readers who are also passionate about helping our community could help us do that!” says Erin Riney, executive director of PORCH

Are you benefiting financially from this?

No, not at all. We’re all currently curled up in fetal positions and clicking the New York Times liveblog every 3 minutes which isn’t healthy – this effort has allowed us to think creatively about how to help at the local level, and to do something that actually feels meaningful and doable. 

What if I am receiving emails from Gavin Newsom every 10 minutes and curled up in the fetal position too?

Doing meaningful small actionable things at the local level gives you agency and also feels really good. Please donate and help us bridge the gap between low donations and high need over the summer months. Your support will make an immediate impact in the lives of our neighbors!

Mel is a journalist and librarian. Outside of work, she volunteers as a reading tutor at Carrboro Elementary School, writes about journalism for a variety of publications, and serves as chair of the OWASA...