Chatham Co. nonprofit tackling food insecurity in county with DoorDash
A local non-profit is teaming up with delivery service DoorDash to help ensure children in Chatham County don't go hungry.
The Chatham Outreach Alliance (CORA) teamed up with the food delivery giant to deliver food children need.
CORA was founded in 1988 by members of local churches in Chatham County who realized hunger afflicted several families. Executive Director Melissa Driver Beard told WRAL News that they started a CORAPacks initiative to help with food insecurity.
The boxes are packed carefully and focus on all possible needs.
“We’re able to consider the whole child, and what I mean by that is we consider their needs, preferences and allergies, in addition to thinking about any social stigma they may face,” Beard said.
According to the Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC, 1 out of 7 children in the region do not get enough to eat each day, and according to CORA, Chatham County has a 14% child food insecurity rate.
CORA is hoping to change that statistic.
In addition to assisting with food insecurity in the county, the CORAPacks program also addresses issues with transportation and social stigma.
Several feeding programs pack food bags for children, and the students take them home on Fridays. According to George Moses Horton Middle School principal Brayden Robinson, however, it wasn’t the most effective way possible.
“When it was backpack time, students were hesitant to get the food they needed because of the stigma of, ‘You’re a backpack kid,” he said.
According to CORA, students in the CORAPacks program receive food on weekends and during school breaks when school is not in session from September through June.
Each child receives a monthly food box from this program, delivered to their home, and contains three meals and two snacks daily for when a child is not in school.
Robinson said the program helps protect the students’ dignity at a school where 30% of the student body is on free and reduced lunches.
“This has allowed us to support [them] in a way that respects them and still fits into the social norms of a middle schooler,” he said.
The initiative also makes a difference in the lives of the drivers delivering the food, like Thomas Beeker.
“I had a real connecting point with one of my customers,” he said. “She was getting her kidney transplant, and I’ve had a kidney transplant. We had a moment, and I’ve wanted to be part of it ever since.”
Beeker is now encouraging others to take the opportunity and give back to the community.
“The benefits go beyond money sometimes,” he said.
Currently, the food alone for the 161 children in the program costs more than $72,000 per year. Feeding an additional 100 children would cost another $45,000.
