Headlines in the Midlands
Harvest Hope Projects Need to Distribute More Than 10 Million Pounds of Food
COLUMBIA, SC - June 26, 2012 - With the beginning of summer, Harvest Hope Food Bank has seen an enormous increase in requests for food from struggling families in our community. In May, Harvest Hope distributed food to hungry families at a 21% increase over the same period last year. Based on this increase, Harvest Hope projects a need to distribute at least 10 million pounds of food during the summer months. This will provide hunger relief for over 450 partnering agencies, two Harvest Hope Emergency Food Pantries and senior feeding programs which provide food to hungry families across 20 SC counties during the summer months.
At their two Emergency Food Pantries in the Midlands (2220 Shop Road in Columbia and 1775 12th Street in Cayce), Harvest Hope provided food to an average of 315 families a day, or almost 4,000 families during the month. This represents the increase of 21% over the same period last year. Thirteen per cent of those coming to Harvest Hope for food in May were new to the food bank, making the difficult decision to ask for help for the first time.
"Looking at the incredible amount of food we have already provided to meet the staggering number of families that have come to us for help, we are facing at least nine more weeks of hunger in communities across 20 counties," said Harvest Hope CEO Denise Holland. "We are thrilled at the leadership proven by Wells Fargo and Jim Hudson Automotive group in their recent matching and giving campaigns, and we are looking for other businesses and community leaders to follow their example and help us by staking their own campaigns."
Harvest Hope is currently seeking new partnerships with area business leaders like Wells Fargo and Jim Hudson Automotive Group to stake a matching campaign to help maintain their mission of feeding hungry families and prepare for the remaining nine weeks of summer before school resumes. Please contact Denise Holland at (803) 254-4432 for information on coordinating a partnership and donation drive.
Denise Holland would also like to share an individual story of her recent encounter with a local young military family, and her conversation with an enlisted soldier's efforts to provide food for his family before his deployment. Please visit http://harvesthopefoodbank.blogspot.com/2012/06/baby-with-young-parents-serving.html to read this story.
