As Hurricane Helene approached Georgia Thursday and in the aftermath Friday, volunteers with the Atlanta Community Food Bank and the Atlanta Apartment Association continued collecting food for fellow Georgians as part of the food bank’s annual Food-A-Thon.
Since the Atlanta Apartment Association first teamed up with the food bank in 1987, our members have donated food and funding to serve more than 140 million meals to food-insecure families throughout Georgia. It is a powerful number and an even more powerful reminder of the incredible good that comes when private industry partners with nonprofits.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
What better time to reflect on this successful partnership than during the 37th annual Food-A-Thon, a food drive and community service project hosted by our apartment industry members. We expect the annual food drive and fundraising to again raise more than $1 million and 50,000 pounds of food — amounting to another roughly 6 million meals for Georgians in need.
Both of our organizations have long recognized the immense and ever-growing need to put meals on the table for those less fortunate. The food bank estimates that nearly 1 in 9 Georgians in its 29-county service area is living with food insecurity, including 1 in 7 children.
Back in the 1980s, a group of Atlanta’s apartment industry leaders used their influence to build this partnership in an act of true servant leadership that lives on today. What began as a modest call to action among industry peers with a few pickup trucks hauling cans quickly became a great pride of our industry. Three or four pickup trucks turned into dozens of trailers and semitrucks lining the blocks around the food bank’s main campus, culminating in the Apartment Association’s Food-A-Thon parade with company teams in trucks and floats filled with food items and oversize donation checks.
Hosting the event has not always been without obstacles. The original parade space was less than ideal, surrounded by security fencing and patrolled by security dogs. Some years, the weather was cold and raining, requiring extra protection against the elements. At one point, the parade took place in an empty lot within eyesight of the Fulton County Jail. And when the coronavirus pandemic threatened to derail Food-A-Thon in 2021 and 2022, our members still rolled up to the Food Bank with checks and food items in hand.
Rain or shine, good economic cycles and bad, even during a pandemic, unwavering volunteerism has always been present. Members often arrive in the dark, early morning hours to decorate their floats and vehicles. Some members have gone the extra mile to collect donations, including at least one who waived its rental application fee in return for five canned goods. Our board members and other volunteers have consistently brainstormed new, creative campaign themes, such as “Lights! Cans! Action!,” “Who Ya Gonna Call? FOODBUSTERS!” and “Team Up Against Hunger,” for which members paraded in sports-themed costumes.
Mayors, city council members and state representatives have been among the guests in attendance. Last year, Atlanta Braves All-Star Matt Olsen joined us to celebrate the theme of “Strike Out Hunger.”
No wonder Food-A-Thon has grown dramatically over the years into what has been described as the nation’s largest food-and-fund drive. But our commitment to this enduring partnership doesn’t end there. Our members contribute their time to the cause as well ― through volunteer days at the main Food Bank campus and serving shifts at local community food centers across the metro area.
In 2018 and 2019, our organization donated $250,000 to the capital campaign for building the new food bank headquarters in East Point. In honor of our collective philanthropic efforts and generosity, the food bank dedicated the volunteer wall in its new facility to the apartment association.
Yet Food-A-Thon remains the pacesetter and cornerstone of our members’ philanthropic efforts. This year’s theme is “Superheroes Against Hunger.”
First-time visitors might take one look and think we’re celebrating a holiday. And in many ways, we are. As one member recently reminded me, Food-A-Thon is their “favorite day every year.” I think everyone involved agrees.
Jim Fowler is president of the Atlanta Apartment Association, which represents over 1,200 member companies managing 500,000+ apartment homes.
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