June 2022: The Latest from PORCH

– The Concert for Julia was a beautiful, uplifting event! Thank you to the musicians who shared their joyous talent to remember a special young woman and also raise funds to further our hunger relief work. Our gratitude goes to the Harrison family, Allan Friedman, SONAM Chorus, Judea Reform Congregation, and everyone who attended and supported PORCH. 

– Thank you to all of our generous donors from The Cedars of Chapel Hill! Their May food drive set a record, providing 900 pounds of non-perishable food and funding for a week’s worth of fresh food to more than 210 families! We are grateful to their wonderful Neighborhood Coordinator, Joy Metelits. Pictured here are just some of our dedicated volunteers from The Cedars.

– During these warmer months, Maple View Farm Ice Cream is lending us their truck to refrigerate our milk on site at our food distributions. What a perfect community partnership! In May, Roger and Ann Nutter came to volunteer – it was so lovely catching up with them! Allison Nichols-Clapper is the owner/manager of the business. Thank you, Maple View, for always being willing to lend a hand – or a vehicle – to help your neighbors. 

– We recently turned 12! It all began with a few cans of tuna. In the throes of the recession in 2010, Christine Cotton, Debbie Horwitz, and Susan Romaine came up with a simple idea to help neighbors without enough food to eat. The three friends reached out to a few of their neighbors in the Lake Hogan Farms development in Chapel Hill, inviting them to leave cans of tuna on their porch. Today, there are PORCH chapters in seven states! Our vision is a PORCH in every community. Read more about our history.

– Neighborhood Coordinators, the next time you come to Extraordinary Ventures to drop off the food you’ve collected, be sure to check out our PORCH Swag & Resource Table. Pick out some (free!) PORCH merchandise – such as shirts, postcards, and vinyl stickers – designed to assist you in your role as NC so you can recruit and retain donors, communicate effectively, and thank your neighbors. 

– Habitat for Humanity of Orange County recently hosted a ribbon cutting for two new duplexes at Broad and Cobb streets in Carrboro. Each of the families contributed many hours of sweat equity in the building of their homes – as well as the homes of their new neighbors – helping to build a strong sense of community in their new Northside neighborhood. In PORCH’s new partnership with Habitat, we donate grocery gift cards each time there is a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a family moving into a new home in Chapel Hill or Carrboro – to help them stock their refrigerators with staples.