Edited by: Colin Tom
Standing before an enormous wall of brown paper grocery bags covered with colorful magic markers, lively illustrations and encouraging words, Carl and Mae Caldwell glance at one another, and each breathe an audible sigh of relief.
These brown bags, carefully decorated by elementary children volunteers, improve the lives of elderly residents in 14 counties across northeast Georgia.
The Caldwells are just two out of thousands of Northeast Georgia residents who benefit from programs offered by the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia. The Brown Bag program provides a sack full of groceries once a month for elderly residents in need.
“Carl and I have so many health and money problems these days,” said Mae Caldwell, a 73-year-old disabled Clarke County resident. “This brown bag just lets us know we can have food on the table, and that’s our one source of comfort.”
Above: Older citizens in need like Mae Caldwell have access to 4- wheeled walkers like these at the Food Bank.
In addition to non-perishable food, the Food Bank also provides various household items for its recipients,
the most popular item being four-wheeled walkers for older citizens.
“Mae couldn’t even get up to answer the phone or use the restroom by herself. I was afraid to leave her for even a second,” Carl Caldwell, 75, said of his wife. “Giving Mae back her independence, her ability to move about; it means everything to us.”
The Food Bank offers several ongoing programs in addition to the Brown Bag Program. Food2Kids, its newe
st program, provides a bag of food on Fridays for children whose families cannot afford to feed them over the weekend.Sixty-seven percent of children in Athens receive a free or reduced lunch at school, according to the Food Bank’s statistics.
“For some children, the reduced or free lunches they receive at school are the only meals they get,” said Jim Pope, volunteer coordinator for the Food Bank. “Kids can’t perform well in school if they’re starving, and they won’t have a good attitude either. We immediately saw an opportunity for a much-needed program.”
Above: When Food Bank recipients come to “grocery shop” on Tuesdays,
they choose from snack shelves such as this.
Pope, 60, has been volunteer coordinator for the Food Bank for nearly a year. After retiring from working in sales, he took the job as a favor to his friend, Food Bank President John Becker.
Pope has been thrilled with the extensive positive feedback regarding the effect of the Food2Kids program on local children.
“The students return to school on Monday with noticeably more energy.” said Kathryn Richards, a second grade teacher at Chase Street Elementary. “Their attitudes have improved exponentially, and the change is evident in their academic progress as well.”
It is improvement like this that makes Pope realize the significance of his newfound role at the Food Bank, in comparison to his previous job.
“I was so wrapped up in my former job,” Pope said. “But now I see what it’s like for the people we serve. It’s like I retired from the real world, into the real world.”
The Food Bank has recently reached out to the community by declaring September as Hunger Action Month, holding a month-long peanut butter drive.
The peanut butter received was given to needy children in Clarke, Barrow and Oconee County School Districts. According to the Food Bank’s statistics, 25 percent of Clarke County children live in poverty.
The Food Bank made the drive accessible to various groups in Clarke County by designating churches, elementary schools, local businesses and various University of Georgia campus locations as drop-off stations.
The drive received heavy support from the community, and the Food Bank is already planning its next outreach event: the “Beat Tech” Food Fight, an annual food drive competition between the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech. All of the donated food from both universities goes to the winner’s local food bank.
“I hope this year we can really get students fired up about this food drive. I hope they can feel as passionate as I do about helping these people,” said Pope. “Athens is ranked third in the nation for highest poverty rate for towns of its population. I don’t think a lot of people know that.”
On the first Tuesday of every month, individual families are permitted to come to the Food Bank and “grocery shop.” Volunteers on these days hand out food to these families and have the opportunity to see the impact of the Food Bank first-hand.
With humble appreciation and gracious smiles, the Caldwells bid the Food Bank farewell for another month, and Pope offers them kind words of hopefulness, reassuring them that he will see them next month.
To volunteer at the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia, email volunteer coordinator Jim Pope at volunteer@foodbanknega.org or call the main office at 706-354-8191. Volunteers are encouraged to call ahead.
The Food Bank of Northeast Georgia is located at 861 Newton Bridge Rd., Athens, GA 30607.
This story is much stronger with the Caldwells in the lead. Shows the impact of this program right away. Good changes.
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