About PORCH Hillsborough

PORCH Hillsborough is an all-volunteer hunger-relief organization founded in 2011 to fight hunger in northern Orange County.  Beginning with food drives in just 3 neighborhoods, our first Food for Pantries donation to the Orange Congregations in Mission (OCIM) food pantry weighed 240 pounds. Since then we have grown to over 30 neighborhoods and added the Meadowlands Business Community. PORCH Hillsborough now donates an average of 4,000 pounds of non-perishables monthly!  

In 2016, PORCH Hillsborough started the Food for Schools program, providing nutritious snacks to each of the 13 Orange County Public Schools and the local Head Start Program for children in need.  In 2018, we launched the Food for Families program to deliver boxes of fresh produce every month to families identified by school social workers for being at risk of hunger. In 2020, as the Covid pandemic emerged, PORCH Hillsborough expanded our operations to include food distributions in partnership with the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina.  These distributions have served hundreds of Orange County families in need of food during this crisis.

In 2022 PORCH Hillsborough announced the start of the PORCH Fresh program! This initiative brings boxes of fresh produce from local farmers to those in need in our community. Every month 150 local families are benefitting from this program.

Our Team

Nancy Grebenkemper PORCH Hillsborough Founder | Neighborhood Coordinator Organizer

Linda Leikin PORCH Hillsborough Director

Sarah Zink | Food Distribution Coordinator

Anna Waters | Program Manager

Meaghun Darab | Orange County Schools Central Pantry Manager

Avis Barnes | Lead School Social Worker at Orange County Schools

Mark Bell | Community Liason

Our Impact

Over the last 11 years, PORCH Hillsborough has donated 350,000 pounds of non-perishables to local food pantries with a value of over $575,000. In 2021 we also distributed over $50,000 in fresh food!

In 2021, as the Covid pandemic continued, the need in our community was substantial.  

• We assisted 300-400 households, representing 1,100-1,500 people in Orange County, on a monthly basis with fresh food, grocery cards, and non-perishables through PORCH Hillsborough programs and in partnership with Weaver Street Market and the Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC.
• We began partnering with Orange County School social workers to serve a central school pantry that provides assistance to 100-150 local families.
• Our Food for Pantries program sent approximately 45,000 pounds of donated food to the Orange Congregations in Mission Pantry and the Orange County Schools Central Pantry.
• We distributed over $120,000 in grocery gift cards to Orange County families in need.

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