Honoring Partnerships during Public Service Recognition Week

May 3, 2021 By: Alethea Parker USDA FNS Southeast Region Public Affairs Division

Public Service Recognition Week (PSRW) is celebrated this year on May 2-8, providing an opportunity for the Nation to honor its governmental employees. During PSRW, it’s important to also recognize non-governmental partners that help to administer civic services and improve the lives of millions of families across the southeast region.    One such USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) partner is Wholesome Wave Georgia (WWG), a non-profit organization that works with local farms, markets, and community health organizations to put healthy food into the hands of 1.32 million food-insecure families across Georgia.    “We like partnering with USDA because it allows consumers to have choices,” said WWG Executive Director Will Sellers, who was on hand at the East Atlanta Village (EAV) Farmers Market on Earth Day – April 22, 2021. “[SNAP Consumers] are treated with respect, and dignity, and can shop just like anyone else,” he said.     WWG’s network of services have enhanced FNS’ efforts to ensure SNAP participants have access to locally-sourced and affordable produce.

SNAP consumer Elizabeth Dourney was shopping at the EAV Farmers Market on Earth Day with her daughter. She used WWG’s Fresh for Less and Plant 2 Plant programs to double her SNAP benefits and appreciates the support public service offers across our communities.   “I grew up using fresh vegetables to cook meals from scratch,” said Dourney. “I like coming to the farmers market to pick up a few items to cook during the week – now I can also grow my own tomatoes with the plants I got today.”

Another FNS partner helping to make a difference across the Southeast is Carolina Hunger Initiative – a collaboration with No Kid Hungry North Carolina – which hosts yearly conferences to discuss how state-wide leaders and organizations can help combat child hunger.    Its network of professionals connects kids to effective but under-utilized federal nutrition programs. “The past year has been an opportunity to demonstrate what matters to us most,” said No Kid Hungry North Carolina Communications Manager Andrew Harrell. “The No Kid Hungry NC team is proud to have spent it supporting the school nutrition professionals, state agencies, community members, and many others who have worked since day one of this emergency to make sure kids have the food they need.” The Carolina Hunger Initiative and USDA FNS partnership helps to alleviate the barriers and provide solutions to ensure children have access to healthy meals.

SNAP-Ed partner, FoodShare in South Carolina, organizes local food hubs in underserved and food insecure communities to provide SNAP-accepted fresh and nutritious food boxes. The organization believes partnership success – counts.    “It’s important that South Carolinians have access to the freshest food, and here it’s coming straight from a local farm in most cases,” said Carrie Draper, director of FoodShare Columbia. “Boxes come in two sizes and can be ordered at the main FoodShare hub in Columbia or from one of 38 partner organizations and neighborhood coordinators – it’s really a collective action, and that’s one of the things that’s so beautiful about FoodShare – we all work together to make this system work.”

Feeding Florida, a network of state-wide food banks, supports more than 2,400 local charitable organizations, providing food directly to individuals and families in need.   These partners and many more across the Southeast are organizations USDA FNS appreciates working with daily that support serving our communities and families in need.  “We are grateful for all of our partners that support public service,” said FNS Southeast Regional Administrator Willie C. Taylor.  “As public servants, we work hard to make a difference in so many lives that depend on our jobs, our dedication to serve, and our integrity in administering our programs – at the core the basic need of what we want as people and as a society is an achievable path for a quality of life we can enjoy in America.”

Photo Captions Photo 1: WWG Executive Director Will Sellers and Georgia Fresh for Less Manager Alex Duncan Photo 2: SNAP Consumer Elizabeth Douney at East Atlanta Village Farmers Market Photo 3: FoodShare South Carolina is of one many partners of USDA FNS Southeast

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