Food Insecurity in Paulding County is Nothing New

It's been exactly one year, almost to the day, that the "two weeks to flatten the curve" narrative began. Fourteen days, we were told, to slow the spread of COVID19. 366 days, 60% of American businesses shut down, one presidential administration transition, and thousands of deaths later, life still is not back to normal. Those that have been affected the hardest by all the hardships brought about by COVID19 are those in poverty.

Paulding County is no exception.

In Paulding County, 10.4% of people are considered "food insecure," which means "the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food." The number of food insecure children in Paulding County is even higher - 18%. That means, more or less, about 2 in 10 kids in our community are food insecure. According to population numbers, that means about 7500 children in Paulding County are without reliable access to affordable, nutritious food. [1]

You might be thinking that's shocking, and that it's incredible how terrible the coronavirus has affected people in our communities. The shocking part of this is not that there are so many people with food insecurity in Paulding County, it's that these numbers and statistics are from 2016.

That's right. Paulding County had food insecurity problems before COVID.

One good thing to come from the pandemic is it forced us to address certain things about our community that maybe we hadn't noticed or thought about before. Many groups in Paulding County have answered the needs of the community by opening food pantries and food banks for those in need.

One such food pantry is at Elevate Christian Church, in Hiram. Elevate Christian Church [2](formally East Paulding Christian Church) is a congregation of about 250 that is having a big impact on the community. Starting a year ago, today, Elevate began collecting and distributing food packages for families that asked for it. Since then, hundreds of bags of food have been distributed to those who sign up for the program. "Whether you're a member of Elevate Christian Church, or someone in the community" the lead minister, Kevin Barton, says of the food pantry program, "If we can help you... we'll do everything in our power [to do so]."

Elevate Christian Church's food pantry is available to everybody who signs up on their website, at this link. Elevate is located off 278, on Poplar Springs rd.

Another such food pantry is run by St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church (the only Catholic Church in Paulding County) and is doing a lot for our community as well. "Many of us have grown up believing its the image of someone in a third-world country fighting famine. Few of us want to believe that in one of the richest countries on earth, the face of hunger is often a child," says St. Vincent de Paul's website. [3] St. Vincent de Paul is located right past the new Wellstar Hospital, on W Memorial Drive.

If you are experiencing food insecurity of any type, or want help assist those who are experiencing those things, please reach out to either Elevate Christian Church or St. Vincent, or any of the below resources listed as well.

Elevate Christian Church (Food Pantry)
(770) 943-5959

St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church
(770) 443-0566

Lighthouse Food Pantry Ministry
(678) 363-7470

Helping Hands of Paulding County
(770) 443-1230

Warehouse of Hope
(770) 489-0509