Outreach Sunday

reported by Geraldine Barker

This program was presented on 2009 August 16 at Mountain Light UUC.

The August 16 "Outreach Sunday" seemed to be a big success. Three representatives of different Gilmer County community outreach organizations were our guest speakers.

Gilmer Community Garden

Don Smith gave us the history and mission of the Gilmer Community Garden, which was started about eight years ago to provide fresh produce for the Food Pantry. At that time there was an initiative for individual gardeners to "plant a row for the Food Pantry", and many participated in that. But it seemed the economies of scale would better serve the purpose, and Don Smith and his wife Sharon, with the support of members of several churches and the Johnson/Ford Nursery, planted a full-scale vegetable garden.

Currently the Garden is able to supply seven pounds of seasonal produce a week for each client of the Food Pantry, and proportionally more for families. Since the number of people applying for food has been running at 150 or so per week, this means 700 or more pounds per week from the Garden. What cannot be taken to the Food Pantry (because of timing) is sold at the Farmers Market and two of the thrift stores in town. The proceeds from those sales goes to buy seeds and plants for the next planting season.

Don pointed out that because of the generosity of space, the Garden can supply greater amounts of produce as needed. All that is required is the volunteer power to do the work of planting, weeding, and harvesting.

Gilmer Community Food Pantry

Brenda Leaming spoke about the history and mission of the Gilmer Community Food Pantry. They also have been in operation for eight or nine years, having also been started with the support of several area churches. The Food Pantry serves hundreds of people each month. The clients are only allowed one visit per month, and are screened to determine eligibility as well as the make-up of each family as to age and special needs. Each individual or family unit receives a prescribed selection of packaged and canned non-perishables, as well as baked goods, eggs, and chicken.

There are several sources for the items the Food Pantry distributes. There is a food bank in Tennessee that supplies mostly boxed non-perishables such as cereals. The USDA in Atlanta supplies flour, cornmeal and sugar in bulk, which must be repackaged at the Food Pantry facility. Other items come from various sources, such as Wal-Mart or other grocery stores, as well as food drives held by the Post Office, schools, banks, etc.

The Food Pantry can use financial help. The Tennessee Food Bank can provide 100 pounds of packaged food (boxes) for about $18 per pound. Other items must be purchased at near market price or a modest discount from local sources.

Volunteer help is also needed to load and unload trucks, repackage bulk items, and work on the Wednesdays when the Pantry is open to clients.

The Ferst Foundation

Louise Sweat represented The Ferst Foundation and the "Kids Ferst" books for children from birth to five years old. Once a family is signed up for the program, the child will receive, in the mail, an age-appropriate book every month until starting Kindergarten. The books are new, and include some of the perennial favorites such as The Little Engine That Could. Louise pointed out that the reading readiness of children who had received the books improved remarkably.

The program was begun in Tennessee by Dolly Parton, who purchased and distributed the books herself, until the counties and state took over the support of the program. Its popularity is growing across the country, county by county and state by state.

This program also needs financial support to be successful. The cost of the program is about $3 per child per month, but over as much as five years, that can add up. However, individuals, groups and companies are invited to support this effort, which will result in much better success rates in school in the future.

Q & A

We had time for a short Q & A period, and each speaker left brochures for our information.

As this program focused only on Gilmer County, it was suggested that we have similar program sometime in the future for programs in Fannin and Pickens Counties.