Cobb YMCA distributes fresh food for Giving Tuesday

Nov. 30—EAST COBB — On Giving Tuesday, the day of charitable giving that follows the commercial holidays of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, a Cobb County YMCA distributed food to local families at Smyrna's Brumby Elementary.

The Northeast Cobb Family YMCA distributes food every week. This Tuesday, each family could receive fresh onions, apples, cabbage, cucumbers and bread, along with canned goods. Gayle Battersby, the director of operations at the Northeast Cobb Family YMCA in east Cobb, said they partner with the Atlanta Community Food Bank to provide the produce.

"Our families love the fresh food," Battersby said.

YMCAs across the country scaled up their food distribution programs in March of 2020. Battersby said when the pandemic hit, the number of families requiring help shot up. At one point, the Northeast Cobb YMCA was providing food to about 475 Cobb families weekly.

"When the pandemic hit we realized people were hungry and we needed to do something, if we were able," Battersby said.

That number declined as the pandemic receded, but she said it recently spiked again to around 270 as the cost of rent and gas has increased.

The food is distributed almost entirely by a team of volunteers, and the funds for the program are raised entirely by the Northeast Cobb YMCA.

According to volunteer Joan Cotter, the crowd of people receiving food on Tuesday was small compared to the usual turnout. She said last week, before Thanksgiving, the volunteers had to organize the cars into five separate lines.

"The people are very grateful," Cotter said. "You hardly ever have anyone getting impatient even when it's busy like that."

On Giving Tuesday, the Journal counted 15 cars in line 30 minutes after the event began.

The Cobb program has provided more than 1.5 million pounds of food since it began, according to Courtney Severson, vice president of financial development for YMCA of Metropolitan Atlanta.