A Successful Sign Up Day for Families

On Monday, despite unseasonably cold weather, 225 families lined up to receive their vouchers for a turkey and all the fixings to make a Thanksgiving dinner at home.  The remaining 125 vouchers will go to other residents who could not make it on Monday, including at least fifty seniors.  After the line had slowed, Ann Fowler, who manages the program, said, “Everyone deserves to have special moments in their lives.  Thanksgiving symbolizes family and it’s a wonderful way to kick off the holiday season for those struggling to put food on the table.”

Meet Jerrica Holliman.

Jerrica has been a resident of Peoplestown for 17 years. Jerrica has three adult children, all of whom have jobs, and she regularly receives groceries from the food pantry. This will be her second year as a participant in the Thanksgiving at Home program at Emmaus House. 

What does this Thanksgiving program mean to you?

Jerrica:  It means a lot.  They help us for real in so many ways nobody would even imagine.

They put a smile on my face. I’m so happy that we have this in our community.  People come together around Emmaus House.

Fundraising Continues

Love abounds. And because of everyone's love-inspired generosity, so do turkeys!

We are pleased to announce, with heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has contributed to our Thanksgiving At Home Fundraiser, that as of today, we are 77 percent funded in our goal of providing Thanksgiving meals for over 350 families in the Peoplestown community!

With 24 days left, we are more than hopeful of reaching 100 percent. But we still need your help.

Please don't think, "Oh great!  All is well. They'll reach their goal, I need not bother."  We still have a ways to go.  A mere $10 means a family celebrates their lives together in their own home around a Thanksgiving Day feast.  And don’t forget the leftovers they’ll get to enjoy - what’s better than Thanksgiving leftovers?

So, if you haven't contributed, please help us quickly reach our goal. And please urge just one friend or family member to do the same... let's get these birds 'in hand' and share our bounty with many less fortunate than ourselves.

How to Contribute

Our fundraiser is coordinated through IndieGoGo. You can visit our campaign page here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/thanksgiving-turkeys-for-families

Please note that your receipt will say that the donation went to “The Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta.”  However, please be assured that 100% of your contribution will come to Emmaus House to purchase Thanksgiving turkeys.

There you can find out more about our Thanksgiving At Home Program, as well as Emmaus House’s general mission and the Peoplestown community that we serve.  Please visit our campaign site to discover how you can spread a little love this holiday season.

Lastly, a huge thank you to all who have already contributed to the campaign.  And a huge shout out to the staff and volunteers who are lovingly making this effort happen.  Blessings to all.

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One-sixth of Americans don't have enough food to eat.  According to Feeding America’s Hunger in America 2014 report, 1 in 7.5 people, or an estimated 755,400 people in metro Atlanta and north Georgia turn to food pantries and meal service programs to feed themselves and their families each year.  This includes more than 164,000 children and more than 64,000 seniors.

The causes of hunger in the land of plenty can be summed up in one word: access.  In a nation of unprecedented abundance, there is no actual shortage of food and nutrition assistance programs, both charitable and governmental.  Rather, it is simple access to nutrition that is a growing problem fueled by increasing pressures throughout the economic system.  These pressures create both socio-economic and physical barriers to access to food.  The effects of chronic poverty amplify educational and physical obstacles to nutrition.  These hurdles can be as simple as limited transportation to grocers and markets and as complex as lack of knowledge of how to negotiate food assistance programs and resources.

At Emmaus House, we focus our efforts at the local level to provide solutions and relief to both types of access obstacles.  Emmaus House, located in Peoplestown at 1017 Hank Aaron Drive SW, serves the residents of the Peoplestown neighborhood in downtown Atlanta through programs that help residents attain higher levels of economic security, education, and personal development, as well as programs that alleviate hunger.  Addressing the immediate issue of hunger, Emmaus House issues referrals to area agencies that run food pantries, and even operates its own food pantry on Friday mornings for residents in the 30315 zip code.  In addition, it assists families and individuals in the application and renewal eligibility for Food Stamps (SNAP), Medicaid, and other government benefits.  Emmaus House offers a community supper on the third Thursday of each month, and annually sponsors a Thanksgiving meal program.

Thanksgiving, the nation's big meal, is only about a month away.  It is our time to give thanks for the bounty that Americans have traditionally enjoyed.  However, Atlanta is no exception to the rise of hunger across the nation.  Many Atlantans don't know where their next meal will come from much less give thought to enjoying the traditional family Thanksgiving Feast.  Emmaus House's efforts in alleviating hunger pains for well over four decades include sharing the bounty of our nation's traditional feast of thanks through a Thanksgiving at Home Program for our neighbors in Peoplestown.  We provide 350 households with turkeys and 'fixings' so that they may have a Thanksgiving meal to prepare and enjoy at home.

Please!  

We need loving donations to buy turkeys (Visit our Turkeys for Families Fundraiser Here) and bags filled with ingredients to make Thanksgiving side dishes.  Please deliver bags of sides to Emmaus House between Nov 17 and 21.  (For grocery lists and more details, click here.)

Your generosity and love are rewards in themselves.  

Help us at Emmaus House to put some holiday cheer in the lives of our fellow Atlantans who are less fortunate than we are.  Thank you!

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Photo Title: "Market" Photographer: Guy Evans License: CC BY 2.0