Our History

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. On a designated day, they would then go porch-to-porch, gathering the cans and bringing the haul to a local hunger relief organization that packed cans of tuna into its weekend backpacks.

What started as a small neighborhood food drive more than a decade ago has grown by leaps and bounds. PORCH (People Offering Relief for Chapel Hill-Carrboro Homes) now hosts monthly food drives in more than 100 neighborhoods. The wide variety of donated non-perishables – everything from boxes of cereal and granola bars to bags of beans and rice – restock the shelves of 13 local food pantries. Month after month, year after year, all of those porch pick-ups have really added up: PORCH has now delivered more than $6.5 million in hunger relief for Chapel Hill-Carrboro families. The PORCH model is being replicated in 17 other North Carolina cities and several other states.

The power of one: one time a month, one Neighborhood Coordinator, one street, one porch, even just one canned good. If each of us steps up, it’s amazing what we as a community can accomplish. It may take you to a place you would never have imagined in your wildest dreams.

Our board has embarked on a new strategic plan to meet the growing demands of families facing food insecurity. Read an overview. In the fall of 2024, we’re opening the PORCH Community Hub in downtown Carrboro. Learn more.

Since its founding in 2010, PORCH has provided more than $6.5 million in hunger relief to residents of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro community.

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