Hunger is a Year-
Round Issue

PORCH-Decatur: a local non-profit organization under the umbrella of PORCH Communities
We are an all-volunteer, grassroots hunger relief organization. We collect food and cash donations through monthly neighborhood food drives and distribute donations to feed hundreds of at-risk families in our community.

Barbara Hardin, Dot Moye and Hope Baker founded PORCH – Decatur in July 2020 as an ongoing response to community need. Ellen Bishop joined Barbara and Hope after the sudden death of our co-founder, Dot, in July 2021.

We are sponsored through Holy Trinity Parish and organized within the structure of the national PORCH organization, enabling us to get up and running quickly using the simple, replicable model of PORCH. We have 25 Neighborhood Coordinators in 19 neighborhoods and 16 general volunteers. We hope you will consider joining the PORCH-Decatur team! A volunteer link is at the bottom of this page.

In April, we celebrated three years of PORCH Decatur and a new Marietta PORCH community at our PORCH Party for Pantries!

We partied with a purpose to the music of the Druid Hills Billys and the Rob Platner Trio. We are grateful for their entertainment, and the sponsorship of Boar’s Head and Wild Heaven Brewery!

Food, drink, sweets and family fun were enjoyed by all while we heard important updates about the work PORCH is doing. We raised awareness with 8 new volunteers, collected 68 bags of food and over $600 in cash donations. What a great day!

Many thanks to Christine Cotton, co-founder of PORCH Communities, and Steve Spokane, from PORCH Communities, for coming to party and support PORCH-Decatur! Thanks to our partner, PORCH-Marietta for co-hosting.

We are sponsored through Holy Trinity Parish and have 25 Neighborhood Coordinators in 19 neighborhoods and 16 general volunteers. We hope you will consider joining the PORCH-Decatur team! A volunteer link is at the top of this page.

How PORCH Works

PORCH is built around the very simple idea of a neighborhood food drive. Here’s how it works, in three easy steps:

1. Once a month, residents place a food donation on their front porch, based on a food pantry’s wish list.
2. A volunteer neighborhood coordinator goes porch to porch and picks up the food donations.
3. The donations are then delivered to our location to be passed on to the Decatur Emergency Assistance Ministry and other hunger-related organizations.

The three-step process is easy and it’s also efficient. With the help of dedicated volunteers, all the food collected from the neighborhood food drives moves from porch to pantries in just a few hours’ time. From there, it goes to individuals and families who struggle with food insecurity.

Why PORCH works

PORCH is easy. Donors just leave food on their porches and volunteers pick it up. 

PORCH is consistent. Monthly drives provide an ongoing and stable supply of food to pantries and program participants.

PORCH is inclusive. Anyone can help by donating, collecting, sorting, distributing or organizing volunteers in as little as a few hours a month. We welcome everyone, kids to seniors. PORCH makes a great community service project for students too!

PORCH is flexible. Coordinators can request neighbors donate specific items as required by a pantry in any given month, best meeting the needs of the pantries and families. There is no monthly commitment for donors.

• When: Second Sunday of each month from 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm, except in December
• Where: Holy Trinity Parish at 515 E Ponce de Leon Ave, Decatur, GA

November 2023 DEAM Most Needed Items: (no expiration dates before December 2022, please!)

• canned fruit (peaches, fruit cocktail, mandarin oranges, pineapple)
• jelly, strawberry, or grape–no glass, please!
• canned chicken
• canned tuna
• canned beef stew
• 1 lb packages of yellow rice
• tuna packets (for our unhoused clients)
• reusable cloth bags
• gloves, hats, and scarves (to be distributed to unhouse clients during cold months)
• hand warmers
• hearty soup

Ongoing Needs:

• Pasta–1 lb packages
• Full-sized deodorant, toothpaste, soap
• Small boxes of corn muffin mix
• Packages of peanut butter crackers
• Cereal
• Soups–condensed (chicken noodle, cream of chicken, cream of mushroom)
• Saltine crackers
• Sanitary pads
• Toilet tissue
• Poise pads
• Powdered laundry detergent or pods
• Reusable cloth bags
• Grape or strawberry jelly, no glass, please!

Church of the Common Ground needs:

• Brown paper lunch bags
• Wrapped soft snacks (like fruit bars)
• Bottled water (16oz)
• Drink powder flavor packets (individual size)
• Mustard or mayo packets (individual size)

Get Involved

Supporting Neighborhoods

Contact us at Decatur@porchcommunities.org if you would like to contact your neighborhood coordinator or if you do not see your neighborhood listed.

Founded by Barbara Hardin, Dot Moye and Hope Baker, PORCH Decatur joins the growing network of PORCH affiliates.