Anne Fogelman

Laurel Hill’s dedicated neighborhood coordinator, Anne Fogleman, has been with PORCH from the get-go. When Anne first heard about PORCH’s neighborhood food drives some five years ago, she was “fascinated by the very simple process.”

She reached out to her Laurel Hill neighbors then, and the same eight or so neighbors are still a part of her monthly pick-up routine now. In addition, Anne picks up food from the porch of the nearby Chapel Hill Early School several times a year – as part of that school’s mission to instill a sense of giving in its young students. “It feels so good to know that I’m doing a little something,” explains Anne.

To supplement her porch pick-ups, Anne purchases a half case of peanut butter each month for PORCH. “When I’m going through the check-out line at Harris Teeter, I often explain to the cashier why I’m purchasing the peanut butter,” says Anne. “Believe me, I can talk to a stump,” she laughs. “This is one of my ways of spreading the word about PORCH: just one-on-one conversations about why the food is needed, and who the food is helping. Those conversations can have a ripple effect throughout the entire community.”

A native of Raeford, North Carolina, Anne is the granddaughter, daughter, and later wife of the owner/business manager of the town newspaper, The News Journal. Raeford is much like the setting of To Kill a Mockingbird, notes Anne – a small, diverse town where a little mischief occasionally interrupts the daily rhythms and routines. Ah yes, Anne remembers the delight in strolling down Main Street with her high school girlfriends, in the middle of the night, wearing the latest Weejuns (Bass loafers), with London Fogs covering their shorty pajamas, before a police officer recognized them and brought the adventure to a screeching halt. From Raeford, Anne attended UNC in Greensboro, worked as a legal secretary in Charlotte, moved to Fayetteville with her husband, Louis, and as a final destination, retired here in Chapel Hill. She and Louis have three sons and two grandkids and luckily, they all share a favorite pastime as beach bums at Topsail Island.

Even if it means cutting a beach vacation short, Anne faithfully picks up bags from her neighbors’ porches each and every month, with her 7-year-old yellow lab, Bella, along for the ride in the back seat of her station wagon. “Bella loves it,” smiles Anne, “and she even gives big, juicy kisses to the PORCH volunteers helping with the food drop-offs at St. Thomas More Catholic Church.” But, Bella doesn’t love the food deliveries quite as much as Anne. “I feel like the Grinch when his small heart grew three sizes that day.”