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Second Helpings Atlanta
By Leah Etling on Jun 24, 2022 in Giving
Yardi is committed to supporting the community in every city where our offices are housed. Each year, the company distributes philanthropic aid to organizations selected by its employees.
In 2021, Yardi offices supported more than 350 nonprofits worldwide. For the remainder of the year, we will be bringing you the stories of those organizations and insight into how they aid their communities.
Today, we bring you the story of Second Helpings Atlanta, a nonprofit that reduces food insecurity and food waste in Metro Atlanta by rescuing fresh, surplus food and delivering it to nonprofit partners, who then distribute it to their clients.
According to Second Helpings, one out of every nine people in Atlanta, including one out of every seven children, does not have certainty about food access, yet one-third of available food is wasted every day.
“We work to remedy this by getting the surplus to where it is needed. Our Food Rescue Network includes over 75 food donors, over 70 partner agencies, and over 300 volunteers,” says Andrea Jaron, executive director of the organization.
“We rescued more than 3.6 million pounds of food from landfills in 2021, the equivalent of over three million meals. This was an 89 percent increase over 2020!”
Jaron continues: “We can rescue 5 pounds of food for every donated dollar we receive. This is the equivalent of almost 4 meals. Yardi’s support will enable us to grow our network. We have the knowledge, expertise, and resources, and your financial support is critical to helping us rescue surplus food and deliver it to our neighbors who are in need.”
Funds will help the organization meet its goals this year.
“Our priorities this year are to bring food to areas in need that we are currently not serving,” said Jaron. “This will require us to recruit more volunteers, food donors, and partner agencies. This is a high priority given the rate of inflation and the already existing stresses on families because of the pandemic.”
How surplus food helps
Among the partner agencies that distribute food collected by Second Helpings are local food banks. Here’s what one staff member there said about a recent donation which is pictured at right):
“Just wanted you all to see how beautiful, bountiful and abundant the market looks today! Thanks to Second Helpings! It is a thing of beauty! Thank you all so much! If you told me six months ago the sight of fruit and vegetables would make me cry I would have thought you crazy! So grateful!”
Another partner commented:
“Thank you so much for your continued support for our youth and families in the communities we serve. You have been the strongest partner with our food distribution throughout the pandemic, before and after. You have allowed CHRIS 180 to provide needed meals to many who would not have had food to eat day to day, week to week. You and Second Helpings have been the guardian angels for so many across Atlanta.
The greatest benefit for CHRIS 180 is that by providing the meals you donate; we can do wellness checks on the community to meet additional needs of them and their families. So again, thank you so much for always considering CHRIS 180 as a partner. We look forward to continuing this strong relationship between our organizations, delivering service to our communities.”
Ways for Yardi Atlanta employees to help
Yardi employees can become food rescue drivers for Second Helpings by going to the nonprofit’s website and clicking the volunteer button. There is a brief orientation, and then you will be matched to a route that is convenient or you can sign up for routes at a later date.
Second Helpings also has a group volunteer activity at our warehouse at 970 Jefferson Street on the historic Westside.
“We gather every Wednesday to pack 2000 meal kits. HelloFresh, the meal kit company, donates all of the ingredients, we bring 30 volunteers together to assemble them, and then we deliver them to various distribution sites around Metro Atlanta. Each kit contains 4 servings so 8000 meals go out into the community every Wednesday. We love to have corporate groups or you can sign up individually to volunteer. You can sign up on our website by clicking the volunteer button,” shares Jaron.
“We are so grateful for Yardi’s continued support!” she added. “You have helped us make a significant impact-everyone should be able to have access to fresh, healthy food, regardless of circumstances, and you are allowing us to help so many people in our community!”
Learn more about Second Helpings at https://secondhelpingsatlanta.org/, and find future non-profit profiles at https://www.yardi.com/blog/category/giving.
