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 2023, 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:
Once a month, residents place a food donation on their front porch, based on a food pantry’s wish list.
A volunteer neighborhood coordinator goes porch to porch and picks up the food donations.
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
DEAM Most Needed Items: for March 2024
tuna packets (for our unhoused clients)
reusable cloth bags
tea bags – regular sized
canned beef stew
canned peaches
peanut butter crackers for the unhoused
1 lb packages of yellow rice
soap – regular-sized
toilet paper
toothpaste
saltine crackers
DEAM ONGOING NEEDS
small boxes corn muffin mix
pkgs of peanut butter crackers
cereal
soups – condensed (chicken noodle, cream of chicken, cream of mushroom)
hearty soups
sanitary pads
Poise Pads
toilet tissue
laundry pods or powdered detergent (no liquid please)
Saltine crackers
reusable cloth bags
full sized hygiene products – toothpaste, deodorant, soap
canned fruit
paper lunch bags/small paper bags for sandwiches (we are trying to go green as much as possible)
Casa Alterna Grant Park Standard Shopping List
P.A.N. White Cornmeal or Goya brand Masarepa (this is the specific type of cornmeal eaten by Venezuelans; it is not the same as American or Mexican cornmeal or masa, see picture) 10lbs (it is sold in much smaller quantities, so it will be many bags) – Kroger has it in the international section.
Pasta or Spaghetti
Corn Flakes – large boxes
Oatmeal (Instant or quick)– large containers
Pancake mixes – family size
Mayonnaise
Ketchup
Shelf-stable Whole Milk (sold in 1⁄4 gallon boxes; Publix and Walmart have on shelves and Amazon to order)
White rice
Canned tuna
All-purpose flour
Sugar
Yeast
Baking Powder
Baking Soda
Canola oil- 1 gallon (5 liters or more)
Canned corn
Canned soup
Black beans, dried or canned
Church of the Common Ground
Coffee, ground and caffeinated
Creamer
Sugar, 4-5 lb bags
Hot Chocolate, large canisters
Lemonade, large canisters
About PORCH
Started in 2010 in Chapel Hill, NC, PORCH is an all-volunteer,
grassroots hunger relief organization that has
collected and donated more than $12 million
in hunger relief across 30 PORCH communities in 10 states.
The need in our community is greater than ever, and PORCH needs you! Help us collect, receive and process donations on 2nd Sundays. If physical tasks are not for you, checking expirations dates is a job you can do while sitting, so please join us!
Drop-off and sorting take place at: Holy Trinity Parish, 515 East Ponce de Leon Ave, Decatur, GA
Come to the double red doors on Sycamore Place
Food drives are on 2nd Sundays from 3-4:30pm
Neighborhood coordinators (NCs) recruit neighbors to donate food, then pick up the donations before each monthly food drive. The NCs bring their neighborhood’s donations to the drop-off held from 3-4:30 pm on the 2nd Sunday of each month except December.
Be a General Volunteer! Come to our monthly food drive to check donations and prepare them for transfer to our recipient organizations.
Want to donate but don’t have a neighborhood coordinator? Individual Donors are welcome, too! Just drive up with your donations.
NEXT FOOD DRIVES:
November 12, 2023
December 2023–no physical food drive. Please consider making a monetary donation to support PORCH and our recipient organizations.
The first PORCH-Decatur food drive of 2024 year will be on January 14.
During our first two years of operation, PORCH-Decatur collected 2212 bags of food, worth approximately $44,240 and $1420 in monetary donations from our generous neighbors.
Non-perishable food and cash donations support the work of Decatur Emergency Assistance Ministry (DEAM).
Donations also support ministries for the food-insecure such as Holy Trinity’s sack lunches, Church of the Common Ground (faith ministry to Atlanta’s unhoused), Casa Alterna, the International Rescue Committee, the Atlanta Community Food Bank, Free Fridge and more.
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.
Ansley Terrace
Artisan
Avondale Estates
Chelsea Heights
Clarkston
Edinburg Estates
Glenn Square
Great Lakes
Hawthorne Park
Kensington Parc
Lamont/ Vidal
McClendon/Scottdale
Medlock
Medlock
Oakhurst
Scottdale
Town Square
Talley Street Lofts
Tuxedo Park
Westchester
Winnona Park-East
Winnona Park-West
Founded by Barbara Hardin, Dot Moye and Hope Baker, PORCH Decatur joins the growing network of PORCH affiliates.