Georgia families invited to pick up free food from Golden Harvest

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Golden Harvest Food Bank will be holding a contactless mobile market food distribution for families in Georgia who have children.

The distribution will be held at the Augusta Exchange Club Fairgrounds on Saturday from 9-11 a.m.

This mobile food distribution is for Georgia residing families with children living in the household.

To receive food, families will be directed to enter at Hale Street and exit at the Laney Walker Boulevard.

Volunteers will place boxes of food in the trunks of incoming vehicles.

Please arrive in a vehicle with the trunk empty and bring a government-issued photo ID.

“One in five children in our area struggle to get enough to eat. ” said Amy Breitmann, executive director at the food bank. “Many families are having to make difficult choices to put food on the table, which means that nutrition often takes a back seat to hunger.”

Golden Harvest is also addressing child food insecurity in its 25 county service area by partnering with local schools to provide nutritious food to children in need through their BackPack and School Market programs.

The BackPack program provides elementary, middle and high school students in need with a bag full of healthy food and snacks when school is out on Friday so that they have something to eat over the weekend.

The School Market program serves K-12 students in need and their families through food pantries operating in their schools.

The food bank has served nearly 400,000 families and provided more than 62,000 meal packs for children across its service area since the start of the pandemic.

Golden Harvest is still seeing an increased need for food due to the economic impacts of the coronavirus in Georgia and South Carolina. For information on volunteer opportunities and ways to get involved visit goldenharvest.org/get-involved.

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