CARES Act-funded program will continue through May
By partnering with a federally-funded food box program, members of the Gilmer County Rotary Club have provided more than 75,000 meals worth of free food locally since last October.
The Farmers to Families program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and funded by the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act, started in 2020 as a temporary emergency relief effort after the national food market was disrupted by the ensuing pandemic.
“We missed a few months because, the way this program works, it depends on who the distributor is. It’s coordinated out of Covington, and it just depends on if our distributor gets the contract,” said Gilmer Rotarian Marvin Chance.
The prepackaged food boxes arrive by tractor trailer stacked on pallets. Rotary members distribute them drive-thru style at the Amicalola Electric service warehouse once a month, usually on a Tuesday around the middle of the month.
Chance said there’s sometimes very short notice between when the club gets confirmation that the truck will be coming and when the boxes are given out. A notice is usually posted on the Gilmer Rotary and Ellijay Live Facebook pages, he added.
Anyone can come by and get a box during the designated distribution time. There are no other requirements that have to be met to receive food, Chance confirmed.
“They just drive up and it’s first-come, first-served,” he said.
Tina Fischlin, governor for Georgia Rotary District 6910, said Gilmer is in the same club district as metro Atlanta counties like Gwinnett and Cherokee, some of which receive weekly shipments of food boxes.
“There’s three Rotary districts in Georgia. We have a big district with right at 3,100 members and 73 clubs. We have the contract and we’re sharing some of our trucks with district 6900, (which includes) Atlanta Metro and South, Last month, we delivered our 2 millionth meal since when we started this in 2020,” Fischlin said.
So far, the program has gone through five phases here. Each truckload brings 32,000 meals worth of boxed food, and Gilmer Rotary splits shipments with the Jasper club, Chance said.
“This (last) load weighed a little over 17,000 pounds, which (is) just a little over 15,000 meals. It’s a 35- pound box that’s supposed to feed a family of four for two days,” said Chance during a food box drive-thru held Tuesday, April 20.
Each box contains a mix of fresh produce, dry and refrigerated foods.
“The first boxes were 20 pound produce boxes. We started with that, then they went to these combination boxes. What’s in them varies, but they always have milk and always seem to have yogurt, cheese, onions and some kind of meat,” Chance said.
Fischlin said the program started as a way for farmers to find outlets for surplus produce at the onset of the pandemic.
“These farmers had nowhere to deliver their produce,” she added. “They (later) added the dairy and processed meat like precooked chicken and hot dogs. For the onions, this particular distributor is based out of Glennville, Ga., which is the onion capital of the world.”
Chance said several local agencies and outreach nonprofits have also received the boxed food.
“We always send some to the senior center. We’ve delivered some to the housing authority. Promised Land Ministries gets them, and we’ve also provided them to Isaiah House, The Depot and Elsie Gillam Home, which are all Accountability Court homes. We’ve been providing some lately to the jail,” he added.
At first, the boxes were handed out in front of the main AEMC building, but, due to weather and the shade it provides, distribution has moved behind the building to the truck yard/warehouse area.
“Amicalola has helped a lot with providing a location, personnel and equipment,” Chance noted.
Members of the Gilmer High School Interact Club have also helped load the boxes into cars as part of their club’s service requirements.
“Interact is for ages 13-18, and it’s kind of a segue into Rotaract, which is our young professionals (group),” Fischlin said. “It’s a great way to teach them what it means to serve above self.”
The USDA recently announced that the Farmers to Families program will conclude May 31.
“The environment today is much different than when this program was created at the beginning of the pandemic, and the condition of our economy has continued to improve since the start of the year,” states a USDA letter to the program’s stakeholders.
Fischlin said the Rotary district has gotten word that there will be at least one more food box shipment in May. Chance said the Biden administration may do a different type of food program.
“With food insecurity at an all-time high and children going to bed hungry, this has been a blessing that has dropped into our laps, and we’re very thankful,” Fischlin said.