Powder Springs opens community food pantry at Tapp Middle School

Brian McKeithan, Marietta Daily Journal, Ga.
·2 min read

Dec. 9—POWDER SPRINGS — In a small room off the Tapp Middle School auditorium, Powder Springs Mayor Al Thurman cut the ribbon for the city's new food pantry Wednesday.

The project is a partnership between the city of Powder Springs and Goodr, a waste management company that supplies nonprofits with surplus food from businesses. The store stocks non-perishables, fresh produce, and refrigerated goods such as eggs, bacon and deli meat — all of which is free. Goodr CEO Jasmine Crowe-Houston, a former Powder Springs resident who now lives in Mableton, also attended the ribbon cutting, along with the members of the Powder Springs City Council.

Tapp Middle School Principal Alvin Thomas said the store will be open to the families of Tapp Middle School students until after the holidays, when it will open to the rest of the community. The pantry, he said, will help ensure kids who rely on school lunches also have food on weekends.

Thomas said that providing food for students and their families is another way the school can fulfill students' emotional, social and academic needs.

"If you think about a child who's coming to school and their family's been stressed about what they're going to do for dinner, what they're going to do for breakfast, that stress carries over to the child," Thomas said.

Powder Springs funded the store with federal COVID-19 relief money from the American Rescue Plan Act. Powder Springs ARPA Program Manager Wayne Wright estimated the project cost around $100,000.

Tapp PTSA president and parent Erica Campbell, who attended the ceremony, said she could see the pantry being useful for her sixth and seventh grade students at Tapp. She said the food pantry could provide snacks or meals for kids between school and after-school activities.

"The middle school gets out so late," Campbell said. "This would be a huge benefit."

This is the fifth of Goodr's grocery store-style food pantries, which are run mostly by local volunteers.

Martha Joyce is the volunteer coordinator for this store, what Goodr refers to as a "store champion." During the pandemic, Joyce helped coordinate Goodr food drives at her church, McEachern United Methodist. She said those food drives were always busy, often serving more than 100 families.

Joyce thinks this style of support provides dignity to those struggling with food insecurity.

"We don't want to say, 'here's a bag of food, take it or leave it,'" Joyce said. "This lets families shop for what they want to eat."