Thank you to The Carrboro Citizen for putting the spotlight on poverty in Orange County in its Dec. 9 editorial. In an area considered affluent by many, the editorial is a sobering reminder that one in six families in Orange County lives below the poverty line – which is about $22,000 a year for a family of four. The editorial concludes that “the chief bulwark against the effects of poverty is not in the deeds of government, it’s in the heart of one’s neighbors.†The 850 families that make up PORCH – People Offering Relief for Chapel Hill-Carrboro Homes – wholeheartedly agree!
PORCH was founded in May to help our five local pantries keep their shelves well stocked in the face of these challenging economic times. The PORCH model is simple – very simple. On a designated day each month, neighbors leave canned goods and other nonperishable items on their front porches. Neighborhood organizers then go porch to porch picking up the donated items, bringing them to a garage where they are sorted, and then delivering the canned goods to the five pantries around town. Within hours, some of the donated food is into the hands of families in the community that are skipping meals to make ends meet. From porch to pantry, it’s just that easy! So for those who are looking for ways to dig a little deeper and give a little more this holiday season, PORCH welcomes your porch. One can at a time, we are making a difference feeding the hungry in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro community. For the month of December alone, PORCH collected over $20,000 in food and cash donations to help our neighbors in need. Together, let’s do even more in the new year.
Christine Cotton, Debbie Horwitz, Susan Romaine
Founders of PORCH