Happening Now at the Food Pantry

• Our volunteer base continues to be strong with between 250 and 300 active volunteers. We are so blessed with wonderful people who give their time and energy to pick up food and boxes, prepare and hand out food, talk to and guide clients, and handle pretty much every other facet of our operation. We do need volunteers, interviewers and automation daily captains as well as grocery pick up people on certain days, so if you or someone you know is interested please contact us at goldencornerfp@aol.com.
• We served about 1,250 households per month in 2017 – flat from 2016. Over the year we served nearly 6,000 different households, which included over 5,400 children, and over 2,000 seniors. Households with income reported about $1,100 per month, but 25% had no income at the time of their visit.
• We distributed about 1.5 million pounds of food. Thanks to Walmart’s continued support, including renewing the “Improved Nutrition” grant, we were able to add fresh milk to the senior program distribution and fresh eggs for families at each visit.
• The big news in 2017 was the receipt of a South Carolina “Angel” Award. Ten awards are given out each year to non-profits based on financial stewardship, effective use of volunteers and compliance with the South Carolina Solicitation of Charitable Funds Act. To be one of the ten selected out of thousands of non-profits in the state is a true honor and a testimony to the service each of our volunteers and donors provide. Executive Director Jeff Heaton and Treasurer Mark Torres were on hand to receive the award. We were also recognized by the Seneca Journal in an editorial for “making this community a better place to live.”
• Our “Make Life Better” program is still going strong. We provide clients “Where to turn for help in Oconee County” information about all the sources of help in the county. In 2017 nearly 700 households asked for help other than food. We guided 295 households for help with clothing, 126 for medical help, 143 for help with shelter/home repairs, 72 for help with finding employment, 26 for education help, 30 for disability, pregnancy, spiritual or other counseling, and 250 others for help with rent, utility, or other needs.
• The Refrigerated Truck continues to be very beneficial. We have been getting enough meat so that we haven’t had to buy meat this year. We are always looking for drivers. Please let us know if you could help. We’ll train you.