PORCH Views: Our Annual Report, a Decade-Long Partnership, & More!

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PORCH Views – September 2021

Hello!

Welcome to PORCH Chapel Hill-Carrboro’s quarterly newsletter, where you can stay up to date on everything happening within our organization.

Have you read our 2020 annual report? Find it here. Among the highlights: In 2020 (our 10th anniversary year!), PORCH nearly doubled our impact over 2019, delivering $730,000 in hunger relief to our community members. To broaden our reach during the pandemic, we started a program called Food for Emergencies, providing $35,000 in grocery gift cards. We hope you will help us make an even bigger impact as we close out 2021.

Check out our blog for regular updates on our volunteers, our partner organizations, and our various programs. New this week: Get the details on our Food for Schools program, which provides supplemental food to kids in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools who are hungry and struggling to concentrate in the classroom. And get to know the inspiring student leaders of the Chapel Hill High PORCH club.

Please note that Weaver Street Market’s Round Up! fundraising campaign for PORCH Chapel Hill-Carrboro will be happening in October and November. Every penny rounded up from the Carrboro and Southern Village locations will go to purchase fresh produce for our Food for Families program. Weaver Street Market has raised $315,000 for PORCH over the past six years thanks to this program.

Read on for additional content within this newsletter – find out how PORCH is growing across the country, learn about a special partnership that has resulted in 7,200 gallons of milk for families over the past decade, and more!

Thank you, as always, for being part of the PORCH community and for your dedication to this work.

Best,

The PORCH Team

PORCH Communities Now in Seven States – and Counting!

Did you know that there are now 24 PORCH chapters like ours in seven states across America?

PORCH Chapel Hill-Carrboro co-founder Christine Cotton is the driving force behind this effort, and she anticipates four to six new chapters will launch in the next six months.

Read this Q&A with Christine, and be sure to spread the word to your friends and family members in towns and cities across the country!

Our Thanks to Maple View

Have you heard the news? Maple View Farm Milk Company discontinued their dairy operation – that's milk production and bottling – in early September, following 25 years of service to the community.

We estimate that Maple View has donated more than 7,200 gallons of milk to PORCH over 10 years – 60 gallons each month, without fail.

As Maple View co-owner Roger Nutter (pictured here with PORCH volunteers and his daughter Julie) told us: "Kids should not go hungry. Period. They are the most vulnerable when it comes to hunger, and it's up to all of us to find a way to help."

We are so grateful to Maple View for the wonderful partnership over the past decade! And don't despair – their ice cream operation is still open and ready for your business!

Can You Donate to PORCH?

The raging Delta variant is now demonstrating clearly that the pandemic is far from over, and the economic suffering that comes with it is very real for members of our community. WCHL recently reported that the county’s homeless population has increased by 40 percent over the past year. One in five children in our county faces food insecurity.

Your contributions support PORCH’s Food for Families program and enable us to provide fresh, healthy food to the many families in our community facing these challenges. Monetary donations help us provide a variety of fresh foods to more than 500 families each month, including:

40-pound box of fresh produce
milk and two dozen eggs
chicken
grocery gift cards

To support our Food for Families program, make an online donation or mail a check payable to PORCH Chapel Hill-Carrboro to P.O. Box 16363, Chapel Hill, NC 27516-6363.

PORCH Chapel Hill-Carrboro

PO Box 16363

Chapel Hill, NC 27516