Monday, March 16, 2020

News 12 at 11 o'clock/NBC at 12

AUGUSTA, GA (WRDW/WAGT) -- If you go to the store, you're bound to see empty shelves and aisles out of stock. One food bank, Golden Harvest, hopes that even with the empty stores, they can make sure as many families are taken care of as possible.

Stores like Costco are putting up signs, telling the public what products they're out of.

Some families rely on schools and their jobs to keep food on the table. They can't afford to stock up and are left relying on local food banks.

Golden Harvest Food Bank know now more then ever-- people will come to them asking for help. They plan to stay open and help in any way they can but they can't do it alone.

Golden Harvest alone gives food to nearly 400,000 families every year but with less to give and more people help-- even they are feeling the impact.

Schools are closed. Jobs are shutting down. Grocery stores left with empty shelves

"Imagine if you were living paycheck to paycheck or relying on your local food pantry or a school lunch to make sure your son or daughter was fed," Amy Breitmann said.

Amy Breitmann, executive director of Golden Harvest, says they're navigating uncharted waters, facing an already low stock due to grocery store shortages.

"We go around and get retail rescue from a lot of our local stores, Publix, Kroger, Target," Breitmann said. "Those donations are going to be down because right now we're having a rush on food, people are really panicking about getting food."

As the coronavirus continues to spread-- the need for help will grow with it.

"Really this is unprecedented, so we don't really know what the need is going to be, but we know it's going to be bigger then what we can handle alone," Breitmann said. "We're going to have to really look at innovative ways to feed the hungry and link arms with people in the community, businesses, restaurants, schools."

They're working on setting up mobile markets that would work as a drive-thru and be deployed to areas with the most need.

"This would be an emergency assistance box that we would do in our mobile markets," Breitmann said. "A box like this might cost 8 dollars to put together, whereas if you were to go together and put these together yourself it would cost 30 to 35 dollars to do. So the best way people can help right now is financially."

A week's worth of food. And for some facing financial struggles-- that will go a long way.

If you would like to donate or help in the actions of Golden Harvest Food Bank, you can visit their website

Or go to their Facebook page