Georgia Farm Bureau fights
hunger with Harvest for All

by Jennifer Whittaker, Editor

Wayne Dollar (center), Georgia Farm Bureau president, welcomes the county and district volunteers who transported the food donated during the organization’s Harvest for All Campaign to Macon. Dollar was joined at the podium by Jeannie Tucker (right), GFB Women’s Committee chair and Brent Galloway (left), GFB Young Farmer Committee chair.

Georgia Farm Bureau members from all 159 county Farm Bureau offices collected 600 grocery bags full of food weighing more than 8,000 pounds during the organization’s Harvest For All Campaign held from Oct. 11 to Oct. 22.

County Farm Bureau representatives delivered the food their members collected to designated district collection points on Oct. 25 and 26. On Oct. 28, county and district Farm Bureau volunteers transported the food to Georgia Farm Bureau’s home office in Macon for donation to a food bank affiliated with America’s Second Harvest, the largest domestic hunger-relief organization in the United States in an effort to help create a hunger-free Georgia.

“I want to thank every one who participated in this campaign. When you start talking about hunger, there’s hunger all around us. It’s good to know we can do something about it,” Wayne Dollar, Georgia Farm Bureau president, said. “We’re great food producers who produce the healthiest food in the world and the cheapest. The Harvest For All Campaign is our way of ensuring that Georgians in need receive the bounty of the season.”

Farm Bureau members donated staple items such as cereals, dried beans, canned meats, rice, toaster pastries, macaroni and cheese, boxed pizza, hamburger helper, canned soups and canned vegetables.

Bobbie Denegal (left), agency coordinator for the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank, helps GFB Young Farmer Committee members Brent Galloway and Stephen Goodman load donations into the food bank’s truck.

“Working with Georgia Farm Bureau has been a pleasure for us. Without canned food drives like this one a lot of people would go to bed hungry,” Bobby Denegal, agency coordinator for the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank, said. “We are associated with Second Harvest, and we’re part of a family of food banks that helps the hungry across the state. This food will not just stay in Middle Georgia but will reach all counties associated with Georgia Farm Bureau.”

The Middle Georgia Community Food Bank annually distributes an average of 5.5 million pounds of food through 310 participating agencies. Denegal said Farm Bureau’s donation was especially appreciated because many donors who would normally make contributions to the food bank sent supplies to Florida following the hurricanes.

The Harvest For All campaign was jointly coordinated by the Georgia Farm Bureau Women’s and Young Farmer Committees in cooperation with America’s Second Harvest, the largest domestic hunger-relief organization in the United States.

In the United States there are an estimated 24.4 million needy Americans seeking emergency food assistance. More than 9 million of these are children. Many of these needy are working folks who simply run out of money before the end of the month. According to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, 37% of people requesting emergency assistance are employed.