Our History

The Food Bank of Southwest Georgia was founded in 1984 and incorporated as a 501(c)3 charitable, non-profit organization in 1995.  In September 2005, we received national certification by and membership in the largest hunger-relief organization in the United States, America’s Second Harvest – The Nation’s Food Bank Network (A2H).  Through A2H, we are approved to serve 20 counties in Southwest Georgia. 

Our Core Business

Our core business is to provide more than 300 partner agencies, which are comprised of soup kitchens, food pantries, churches, rescue missions, abuse shelters, disaster relief organizations and other charitable, non-profit organizations, with food and other grocery items that they use to help those in need.  These items range from frozen meats to can goods to paper products.  We value our partnership with these various agencies because they are the ones who are out on the front lines helping those in need of food assistance.

If you are a 501(c)3 charitable organization or a church and would like information on becoming one of our partner agencies, email our Agency Relations Director, Ashley Harmon, at ashley@foodbank-swga.org or call her at (229)883-5959 ext. 11.

Our Programs

In addition to providing our partner agencies with food and other grocery products, we operate a Manna Truck program and sponsor child hunger programs.

	Manna Truck is a mobile pantry that we use to deliver food and drinks to low income areas throughout our service area.  This program allows agencies or other sponsors the opportunity to distribute 5,000 lbs. of food and drinks to those in need of food assistance at a specified location all at one time. To sponsor a Manna Truck, contact Cheryl Pittman at cheryl@foodbank-swga.org or (229)883-5959 x14.
	The BackPack™ Program is an America’s Second Harvest sponsored program that is designed to meet the needs of hungry children at times when other resources are not available, such as weekends and school vacations.  Backpacks are filled with nutritious, child-friendly foods and given to children that are identified as ‘at risk’ of going hungry over the weekend by their elementary school counselor.  We currently partner with two elementary schools to provide 100 backpacks per week and are in the process of adding three additional schools.  We hope to be distributing 300 backpacks to six elementary schools by the end of 2008.
	Kids Cafe© is also an America’s Second Harvest sponsored program that provides free meals and snacks to low-income children through a variety of existing community locations where children congregate, such as Boys and Girls Clubs, churches or public schools.  In addition to providing hot meals to hungry kids, some Kids Cafe programs also offer a safe place, where under the supervision of trustworthy staff, a child can get involved in educational, recreational and social activities that draw on existing community programs and often include family members.  We are in the process of starting our first Kids Cafe in Sylvester, Georgia thanks to a grant from ConAgra Foods and hope to open a second by the end of 2008.