April 2025 Newsletter:
Facing Challenges with THCA
With our Spring holidays behind us, now starts the headlong rush into the summertime. There is much to look forward to, longer days, picnics, vacations. Here at Toco Hills Community Alliance, summers bring those joys, yes, but they also bring their challenges, like covering the work when volunteers go on vacation, ensuring kids home from school have access to food, and the HEAT!
This summer, though, is coming with a particular challenge in our access to food – enough, the kind we need, within budget. As mentioned in last month’s newsletter, very little of THCA’s funding comes from any federal funds. However, we are a partner agency of the Atlanta Community Food Bank, which is the source, directly or indirectly, of much of the food that we share. Because of recent cuts to federal programs, they have lost 30% of their funding.
This means that while there is food available, it is not in the quantities that we are used to, that we can’t always access the types of food we need, and we can no longer purchase food at 8 cents a pound. Up until a month ago, our orders from the Food Bank, usually made weekly, averaged $650 each; in the last month, our average order cost $1220 – almost double!
Thanks to the incredible support from people like you in our community, each year we have raised enough money through the Hunger Walk Run to cover the cost of food for the entire year, from July 1st to the next June 30th. So, in 2024, we raised $32,000, which would have covered until this June 30th, if prices had not increased due to the funding cuts to federal programs. We will need to spend $5,000 more on food before June 30th – an unexpected challenge!
We need your help to meet this challenge!
How? Here’s two ways to help:
1) Make a monetary donation to help us make up for the shortfall
2) Rally your congregation, workplace, school, civic association, or other group to participate in our Hunger Doesn’t Take a Vacation campaign.
We need you more than ever to overcome food insecurity in our neighborhood. We need you more than ever to ensure
- Hardworking families
- Disabled veterans
- Those new to recovery
- Senior citizens
- Students, elementary to college
We need you as we face even more challenges in the days to come, as our federal government is working even now on budget reconciliation.
With a goal to cut $1.5 trillion dollars from the federal budget, programs like SNAP, school lunches, Medicaid, Social Security, veterans’ benefits, appear to all be on the table for large cuts. Of particular concern to us is any cuts to SNAP (what used to be called food stamps). As good as our work is, for every meal we provide, SNAP dollars provide eight! Here is more information about effects of SNAP cuts.
Any cut to SNAP will increase the need for our services – a need already so great that we have tripled the number of people served in the last 3 years. As more details develop, we will all be able to take more concrete action, like contacting members of Congress, that can help to save SNAP.
Together, we can continue to make a positive impact in our community, in our neighborhood, in the lives of our neighbors.
Together, we will continue to be Neighbors Helping Neighbors with hospitality and compassion, sharing hope as well as food.
Together, we can and will face any challenge that this summer or any other season sends our way.
Executive Director
April is Volunteer Appreciation Month!
Every month is Volunteer Appreciation Month at THCA! We certainly do appreciate all of our volunteers each and every day, as they sort and stack, make bags and boxes, cook and clean, bring in food deliveries and distribute food boxes.
If you want to join in with Ms. Edna, at 92 our oldest volunteer (pictured with Dillon, at 24 our youngest staff), if you can lift 25 pounds, stand for long periods of time, can withstand all kinds of weather, are at least 14, and have time during the week, then we would invite you to apply to volunteer.
Right now, we are especially in need of help on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. This is a great summer opportunity for any high school or college students.
Telephone Call
Recently, we came in to the THCA one morning to a telephone message left by one of senior citizen neighbors, who called to thank us for her box of food. She was so excited and grateful that she named each item that was in the box and shared how she was going to use it!
It was a longer than usual message, but made clear that what we do is so important in bringing dignity and joy to people’s lives.
And, it is only possible because of your support! Thank you!
We Accept Stock Gifts!
Did you know we can accept stock donations at Toco Hills Community Alliance? Reduce taxes* on capital gains while deducting the fair market value of gifted stock held more than one year. It’s fast, safe and free to donate stock at the link below.
Copyright © 2025 Toco Hills Community Alliance, All rights reserved.
Our physical address is:
1790 Lavista Road
Atlanta, GA 30329
Our mailing address is:
2897 North Druid Hills Rd., #115
Atlanta, GA 30329
Leave a reply