Sweetwater Mission, with support from the Atlanta Community Food Bank (ACFB), recently celebrated the grand opening of its 2,000 square foot, newly remodeled “client choice” food pantry in Austell.
“The new client choice model will allow clients to select their own food from the food pantry similar to the way they would at a grocery store, providing freedom and a sense of dignity over the former option of providing fixed boxes and bags of food,” said Darlene Duke, Executive Director .
The new model will also reduce the waste of unwanted food products. Unlike most pantries, which provide clients with fixed boxes or bags of food with no ability to select the items included, client choice pantries allow clients the ability to choose from a wide variety of nutritious foods, better enabling clients to meet their personal dietary needs.
Sweetwater Mission (formerly named Sweetwater Valley Community Action Mission Program – C.A.M.P.) has served Cobb and Douglas Counties since 1968. The non-profit assists struggling low-income individuals and families with food, clothing, homeless prevention services, education opportunities, and a job-readiness program. Sweetwater Mission serves over 15,000 individuals annually and distributes over 1 million pounds of food each year including fresh produce greatly enhancing the nutritional value of the foods provided.
“Our non-profit is the largest distributing food pantry in North Georgia providing significant services and relief to many of the poorest communities in the Cobb/Douglas corridor,” said Mrs. Duke.
Members of the public are invited to tour the newly remodeled, innovative food pantry by appointment. Volunteer opportunities may also be explored by signing up for a volunteer orientation class that is pre-scheduled twice a month with detailed information at www.SweetwaterMission.org.
Areas of the newly re-constructed food pantry include stations that include canned goods, breads, fresh produce, frozen goods including meats, and other grocery items.
From the November 2015 issue of The Bright Side, Cobb County Georgia’s Newspaper covering Smyrna, Vinings, Mableton, Powder Springs and Austell, GA.