Georgetown Neighborhood Food Project (new SGUUF social justice opportunity)

Dear Folks, our congregation has been invited to help a student at Southwestern University to coordinate a food bank project that looks very promising. The student's name is Bryce Stiemert and he is the student government president in the class of 2025. 

After learning some of the details about this  program, our group volunteered the church to serve as both a collection/distribution point using our parking lot. This will begin on Saturday, June 21 from 9-11 am in our church parking lot.

The Georgetown Neighborhood Food Project is a simple system that makes it easy for people to regularly donate to their local food banks. The project consists of Neighborhood Coordinators and donors. The donors receive a green NFP bag with informational materials, and all they have to do is place the bag on their doorstep on collection days with however much non-perishable food they are willing to give. 

Here is a simple video explanation:

Preview YouTube video The Power of One Green Bag - How It All Works

The project revolves around neighborhood coordinators, as they are the ones who go around and bring the green bags to the collection site. The neighborhood coordinators leave another green bag with reminders for the next pick up dates for the donors when they pick up the full bags so that the donors can easily start the process over again. All of the food is organized into larger boxes after it is dropped off and then goes directly to the local food pantries. As of now, our recipients will be the Caring Place, Helping Hands and the Pirate Pantry. 

Since the system makes it so easy for donors, there is really no time commitment for them other than buying a few extra non-perishable items when they go to the grocery store. For the Neighborhood Coordinators, the only true time commitment is on pick up days, as they drive around gathering the bags and drop them off at the collection site. Neighborhood Coordinators can also help spread the word by reaching out to their neighbors, but other than that it is a very low time commitment since our software system handles all of the rest. 

For the collection days, volunteers are asked to just come for an hour and help sort and organize the food into larger boxes that are then taken to the food banks. This is a super great way to spend a Saturday morning connecting with our community and contributing to its well being!