PORCH Hillsborough is a dynamic community of volunteers committed to fighting hunger in northern Orange County, North Carolina. Our simple, sustainable programs provide non-perishable and fresh food to children and families who need it through food drives to support the local pantry, produce deliveries to at-risk families, food distributions in underserved communities, and the purchase of healthy snacks for hungry kids in our schools.
Please make a note of our new mailing address: PORCH Hillsborough, c/o Jonathan Mandeville, 606 Benton Street, Hillsborough, NC 27278.
At our January food distributions, we started executing our 2023 mission, adding lean meat to the eggs, produce, and dry goods we give every family we serve. Working with local farmers Matt Fox of Wooden Nickel Farms and Jake Tommerdahl of Jimmy Acres, we provided locally grown ground beef, ground pork, pork sausage, and chicken to 250+ families in Orange County. In 2023, we’re rolling out our plan to distribute to all 400 families we serve!
Meaghun Darab and Linda Leikin attended the Orange County Schools Board of Education meeting to provide an update on the OCS Central Pantry, which provides food to 100+ school families in need monthly. In response to their presentation, Superintendent Felder sent the lovely note quoted here.
Local pantries are a critical lifeline for families who struggle to put food on the table. Each month, Neighborhood Coordinators volunteering with PORCH Hillsborough collect non-perishable items from local porches and deliver them to the Orange County Schools Central Pantry located at Orange Middle School and Orange Congregations in Mission (OCIM) food pantry in Hillsborough.
No child should struggle to focus in school because they are hungry, and teachers should not have to spend their own personal funds to buy snacks for students. That’s why PORCH partners with local businesses and individuals to sponsor a healthy snack program for children in public schools and after-school programs. Our PORCH for Schools snack program works in collaboration with school social workers to serve the 13 Orange County public schools and the local Head Start program.
As a supplement to the non-perishable goods that are more widely available at pantries, PORCH Fresh provides a monthly distribution of fresh food – including vegetables, fruits, meat, eggs, and dairy – to food insecure families in our community. Farmer Foodshare produce boxes are provided to 150 OC school families identified as being at risk for hunger by school social workers. Additionally, fresh items such as protein, eggs, and cheese are distributed by PORCH Hillsborough at our various monthly community food distributions. Weaver Street Market Round-Up funds help fund this effort.
In 2020 as the Covid pandemic hit, PORCH Hillsborough began working in partnership with the Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC to conduct monthly food distributions to local families in need. PORCH Hillsborough uses your monetary gifts to supplement the Food Bank donations with fresh eggs, cheese, protien, and grocery gift cards.
