August 2025 Newsletter:
The Power of Community
Summer is winding down, we are getting back to our routines, and looking toward a fall full of activities, and I’ve been thinking about our community…
As I reflect on the past year, the summer, and even the past week, this quote truly resonates with me. The strength of this incredible community is awe-inspiring and is evident in our mission every single day.
This summer,
Our volunteers dedicated over 4,000 hours to serving meals and sharing food.
Our staff and board ensured that over 10,000 families had food on their tables.
Our community partners supported us in countless ways, including
hosting Mobile Food Pantries
coordinating food drives for specific needs
helping to recruit new volunteers
At the heart of it all, the people we served were able to keep their families fed and healthy, allowing them to focus on work, housing their children, and keeping the lights on.
People like
The grandfather whose job can’t give him the hours they used to
The disabled veteran whose health problems are worsening
The young mother whose SNAP benefits were stolen but won’t be replaced
If you are reading this, YOU are a part of the community that makes it happen. Your support makes our mission possible and our vision attainable. You are making it possible that we are moving to a time when no one goes hungry.
But we still need you!
We need more people to get involved. We need more resources.
We need to grow our community.
What can you do?
- Forward this email to one, two, ten people that you know
- Like and share our social media posts on Facebook and Instagram
- Talk about our mission to your friends, family, neighbors, coworkers
- Invite me or another THCA team member to speak at your church, school, civic association, etc. (BTW, I LOVE speaking to groups!)
We have a great community, and with your help, we can grow that community into an even greater one, with even more compassionate actions.
I am reminded that it was another hot August day, some 62 years ago, that another member of the King family proclaimed his dream of a Beloved Community with freedom and love and food for all. In his famous speech at the March on Washington, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King encouraged us with these words, words that I leave you with now:
Grateful to be in this great community, marching ahead with all of you and with those yet to join us,
Rev. Dr. Lisa Heilig,
Executive Director
One other way to help out
Toco Hills Community Alliance
is to donate specific items
that are needed;
you could even coordinate a drive at your school, work, or neighborhood!
we here at Toco Hills Community Alliance have some
transitions of our own going on.
Our Program Coordinator for the last two and a half years, Emily, has left her position, but not her love for THCA!
She has coordinated our volunteers and helped with communications, so you know her work even if you never met her in person.
Her family really needs her right now, so we will miss her, but know she is where she needs to be.
And we know she will be back in some capacity.
To help us out as our Interim Program Coordinator, Sabrina has come on board as a part time staff person. She is certainly no stranger to THCA, as she was an intern for two years here while she was attending Candler School of Theology at Emory University. We are so glad she can help us out for a while.
Speaking of interns, we have been so very fortunate to have had Patrick as our Operations Intern all summer long. He has been invaluable in helping everything to run smoothly throughout this hot summer. He is returning to class work full time now as a Master of Development Practice student at Emory University. He will be missed for sure, but we wish him well in his studies.
Also interning with us this summer as our Communications Intern has been Jonathan. All of the snazzy social media posts this summer are due to him. Even as he is returning to Georgia State University as a Marketing major, he has agreed to keep helping us a bit throughout the fall and we are grateful.
We want to thank all of the high school and college students who volunteered over the summer and we do wish them all the best in their new school year.
School is indeed starting back up, and we will have new interns with us.
Starting next week, we will have 8 first year interns and one second year intern from Candler School of Theology at Emory University. We are looking forward to getting to know them and so glad they can join our great community as we work to overcome food insecurity together.
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