The food bank says the Milledgeville event is a great start for Stuff the Truck
MILLEDGEVILLE, GA – The first day of Stuff the Truck in Milledgeville started our campaign off with a bang.
By the time the truck arrived at 10 a.m., the trash was already full of donations ready to be loaded into the truck.
Each person who donates has their own reason to give back.
For some, it’s personal.
“Everyone needs someone, and my Christmas gift to myself is to give to the community,” Joyce Pennington said.
She says food insecurity comes in all shapes and sizes, and in all walks of life as well. So, she spends her spare money on others.
“You could be that person that lifts someone up,” Pennington said.
For others, it may be a desire to include more people in Thanksgiving celebrations.
“It’s not a good feeling for anyone to not have Thanksgiving dinner,” Deidre Howard said.
She says she usually cooks a Thanksgiving feast.
“I cook turkey, gravy, dumplings, cabbage, macaroni and cheese — I mean I do everything,” Howard said.
You donated food so someone else could have their own feast.
“I donated some canned goods, corn, vegetables, rice and pasta. Things I thought would be easy to cook,” she said. “It’s been a tough time the last few years, so I think it’s important to set aside this time of year.”
It can also be to teach an important lesson.
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“We’re here today to fill the truck,” said Shawnia Mapp, family engagement coordinator for the Baldwin School District. “We went to every school and asked all of our students to go home and ask their parents if it was okay to bring food from home or go shopping. Whatever they could do to make this work.”
Mapp says the students collected 4,000 food items. Students from Oak Hill Middle School, Midway Hills Academy and Georgia Early College came to help unload the busload of food.
“When you give back, a lot of great things happen,” Mapp said. “It helps a lot of people in the community that are less fortunate, so we try to teach our students how to get involved.”
That’s because food insecurity affects more people than we think.
“Money wasn’t tight but we didn’t have a lot and we didn’t want other people to experience that,” said Genesis sixth-grader Guerra Oak Hill.
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She and her cousin, Alexia Ramirez, say food was stressful in their shared household of 10 people.
“I know from experience that it’s very hard, and you don’t really want to feel it, and you’ll feel bad. I feel like it’s good to help people in need. Not everyone has food on the table and clothes on their back,” Guerra said.
It could be for no reason at all.
“There are a lot of people who have some, but not enough,” Felix Reeves said. “So, it would be very helpful to keep giving.”
We have two more opportunities to stuff the truck if you can’t make it to Milledgeville.
On Wednesday, we will be at the Walmart in Dublin, and on Thursday, we will be at the Zebulon Road Walmart in Macon as well as the Watson Boulevard Walmart in Warner Robins.
The goal is to fill six trucks full of food by Thursday afternoon.
we love for you Help reach our goal this year. You can click on this story below to learn how to participate
RELATED: Here’s how you can help with Stuff the Truck 2023
