DEMOREST, Ga. – Demorest City Hall occupies the former Demorest Elementary School, a building once filled with classrooms and a bustling cafeteria. While much of the old school has been transformed into a municipal conference center, the cafeteria still serves children every Thursday morning — just in a different way.
Each week at 8:30 a.m., volunteers gather in the old cafeteria to pack food bags for hundreds of students across the Habersham County School System as part of the Food 4 Kids project, an initiative organized by The Everyday Good.
The nonprofit began serving students last spring after a school counselor reached out about a growing need for food assistance among children in the county.
“Someone contacted us just to let us know about the need,” said Meredith Harkness, one of the organizers of the weekly packing event. “Once you know something like that, you can’t unknow it.”
From humble beginnings
What started as a response to a single request has grown into a weekly operation serving about 400 students at 14 schools. The program reaches every school in the county except one, which is already supported by another local church-based effort.
Each Thursday, volunteers pack bags filled with single-serve food items that students can take home. The food is distributed through the schools to children identified by counselors as needing supplemental meals.
“It’s a well-oiled machine at this point,” Harkness said. “From start to finish, it usually takes about 25 minutes, but it takes a lot of hands to make it work.”
On an average Thursday, about 40 volunteers show up to help, though the number can fluctuate. Some volunteers pack food, while others deliver the bags directly to schools across the county.
Funding is the biggest need
Funding remains a constant challenge. Harkness said the Food 4 Kids project costs roughly $1,500 per week to operate, with most food purchased in bulk to ensure items are lightweight and appropriate for children.
“Money is really our greatest need,” she said. “Five dollars pays for a bag for one child each week. It doesn’t take a lot of money to make a big difference.”
Volunteer Ann Sutton, assistant vice president for advancement and development at Piedmont University, has been helping with the weekly packing effort for several months.
“The reward is being with other people who are doing the same thing — trying to make
things better for these students,” Sutton said. “You imagine the children who go home and need extra, supplemental food, and you realize how important this is.”
Sutton said the setting itself adds meaning to the work.
“I love that the old cafeteria is still serving kids, just in a different way,” she said.
City leaders have embraced the effort by providing space for the weekly packing event.
Demorest Mayor Jerry Harkness said it is important for the city to support initiatives that directly serve the community.
“We have this space,” he said. “It’s a great space to organize this event, and they do a great job putting it on.”
For organizers and volunteers, the Food 4 Kids project is about meeting a basic but critical need — and making it easy for the community to help.
The Food 4 Kids project packs meals every Thursday morning at Demorest City Hall. Those interested in volunteering can stop by around 8:30 a.m. To support the effort can donate online at theeverydaygood.com/donate.
