By Rose Laudicina
Staff Writer
In order to make people aware of their ongoing need for donations, the Inter-Faith Council for Social Service (IFC) and TABLE have decided to disassociate themselves from local nonprofit PORCH (People Offering Relief for Chapel Hill and Carrboro Homes), no longer accepting its donations.
Citing a change to PORCH’s original mission statement and fear of what they perceive as mounting confusion from the public about the level of donations IFC and TABLE require, the two nonprofits decided in early November to remove themselves from the list of groups that PORCH serves.
“We need people to know that TABLE is a separate organization with a separate mission,†said Joy MacVane, executive director of TABLE.
“We are very glad to have received food from PORCH, but for our organization and programs to stay sustainable it is essential that we receive direct support from the public,†she added.
IFC Executive Director Chris Moran said that he too didn’t want supporters to think that PORCH was taking care of all of the IFC’s food donations, adding that he felt that PORCH was changing its mission without consulting the IFC.
“More than 3,500 households are benefiting from the food pantry,†Moran said. “We are not saying we don’t need food, we are simply saying that PORCH is moving in a different direction.â€
PORCH co-founder Susan Romaine said that since the entirely volunteer-run nonprofit’s founding in May 2010, it has been delivering food to the IFC and TABLE, and that it wasn’t until very recently that the two groups started voicing their concerns to PORCH.
“On Nov. 8, we received an email from IFC expressing concerns with how food collections were allocated,†Romaine said. “We thought that after the concerns were expressed, all of this would be worked out through an independent third party.â€
However, according to Romaine, after the first round of discussions, PORCH abruptly learned that the boards of both groups had met and decided to terminate their collaboration with the organization.
The main source of controversy between the three groups seems to be centered on the Food for Families program recently created by PORCH to provide direct service to families with children that have limited access to the local pantries.
“According to PORCH in an October email, they collected 1,112 grocery bags,†Moran said.
“Seven hundred and four were given to Food for Families,†he added, saying that as more donations were going to PORCH’s own direct-service program, worries grew about the amount it would be giving to local pantries.
Through Food for Families, PORCH volunteers deliver bags of food directly to hungry families, which are identified through social workers at local schools. Romaine said that in order to avoid duplication of services, the program targets children who aren’t already receiving weekend backpacks from TABLE.
But MacVane said the formation of the program left TABLE’s board unsure of what the future held for the organization’s association with PORCH.
“To maintain the level of support we need from the general public, we need to protect our identity as the only local hunger-relief organization that specializes in fighting childhood hunger,†she said.
Romaine said PORCH has decided to have a “cooling-off period†of about two months before trying to again talk with the IFC and TABLE, and in the meantime to continue to serve the community.
“This whole food fight among PORCH and IFC and TABLE is taking our eye off the prize,†she said. “My hope is that after two months, we will be able to come together and work collaboratively to address local hunger.â€