A Henry County-based nonprofit organization has received a significant boost in its quest to feed local families.
Operation Lunchbox, headquartered in McDonough, provides food for children and families in need. The group’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Dave Newman, said his group recently linked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to increase its impact on the community.
“We’re getting family food boxes for the Farmers to Families program,” said Newman. “The USDA gave food grants to certain organizations. Food that the USDA has excess of, they’re allotting to feed families with.”
Operation Lunchbox has been active locally since January 2015, helping to feed needy families on a weekly basis. Since the group’s inception, Newman said, the organization has provided groceries for more than 300,000 kids in Henry and surrounding counties.
“We provide a variety of food, both perishable and nonperishable, through our affiliation with the USDA,” said Newman. “We’ve actually touched about 20 counties since the advent of the pandemic. We’ve [reached] 25,000 people over the past five weeks.”
He said the group is currently working to secure donations to enable them to begin stocking up on refrigerated items as well.
Prior to affiliating with the USDA, Operation Lunchbox was feeding approximately 2,700 kids per week. Newman said the new partnership has greatly increased his group’s ability to feed those in the community who need it.
He expressed gratitude for the opportunity to join forces with the USDA. Still, he said his ultimate goal is eventually to “look for a new career” because fewer children would require the services of Operation Lunchbox.
“Our goal is always, we want zero,” he said. “That means nobody’s hungry. Our goal is to shut down Operation Lunchbox, because there wouldn’t be anybody in need.”
For more information, call 678-962-3333, visit www.operationlunchbox.org or the group’s Facebook page. Newman added that anyone who wishes to donate to Operation Lunchbox can do so by texting “lunchbox” to 77977.
