Jambo Books is a proud sponsor of food for one Georgia child for the summer through Sweetwater Mission’s Children’s Summer Food Program. It’s the best $50 we’ve spent in a while. You can’t enjoy literacy or much of anything else with an empty belly. Jambo salutes the people who work hard everyday to make sure that our neighbors don’t go hungry because they don’t have enough money for food.
We often think of hunger as an aspect of poverty that does not occur here in the United States. But it does. In Georgia, 1 in 4 children live in a food-insecure household; that’s over 500,000 hungry kids.* Georgia’s minimum wage of $5.15 is far below the federal minimum of $7.25, and neither amount is enough to live on without depending on other sources for help.
I had the great pleasure of visiting Sweetwater Mission in Austell, GA and I got a tour of the facility with its Executive Director, Brian Hamilton.
Sweetwater serves its clients with dignity, by supporting their independence and ability to make decisions for themselves about how and what they will eat. Sweetwater’s grocery store is full of fresh produce, fresh baked breads and healthy fare that clients can pick and choose from to to nourish themselves and their families. Gordon Farms offers fresh fruit and vegetables that you could expect to see at a farmer’s market. Kroger and Publix offer milk, breads, canned foods and other goodies.
Fresh produce from Gordon Farms 
Food, glorious food 
More produce 
The same milk we would find in traditional grocery stores 
Fresh baked breads 
Clean, well-kept and organized store 
Lots of variety
Sweetwater Mission offers comprehensive services to its clients. You can come here for gently-used clothing, brand new hygiene items, financial training, job training, GED classes, diabetes and HIV screening and more. Come through and sign up for EBT, Medicare and Medicaid. The space is huge, bright and airy. There are no long lines or judgmental clerks trying to find a reason to deny people help. All you need to bring is proof of residency (mail or a lease), photo ID and a Social Security card. You will also be asked to verify your income. That’s it.
This is not our usual post about books, but Sweetwater’s work is so important and they’re doing it so well that I wanted to share. If you feel moved to volunteer or donate, please learn more about Sweetwater here.
Source: Atlanta Community Food Bank.
