Weaver Street Market supports community partners that share our vision of providing healthy food to those in need. The number of families at risk for food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic remains at record highs. Our community partners have expanded the number of families served while adapting their program models to address safety issues for staff, volunteers, and clients.
Rounding Up to Reduce Hunger
Our Community Food Partners are the recipients of our Round Up program. Shoppers are offered the opportunity to “round up” their bill at the register or to purchase Round Up tokens when shopping online. Shoppers can also donate cash of any amount at the register. Recipients rotate throughout the year and differ by store—with stores rounding up for organizations that support the neighborhoods in which the stores are located.
All donations to our community partners are 100% for food. Weaver Street leverages its buying power to help the organizations purchase the donated food at greatly reduced costs.
Since 2015, shoppers have donated over $1.65 million for food to feed the hungry.
WSM’s Community Food Partners:
Inter-Faith Council (IFC)
Your round up donations for Inter-Faith Council provide fresh vegetables and fruit for families shopping at IFC’s food pantry—Community Market. Community Market, located in the new IFC Commons facility, is a member-choice food pantry that allows members to shop for themselves and make food choices most appropriate for their families. Qualifying families receive approximately one week’s worth of groceries once a month. The pantry provides more than 1,500 bags of groceries each month to food-insecure individuals and families who live or work in Chapel Hill or Carrboro.
Meals on Wheel Orange County (MOWOCNC)
Your Round Up donations for Meals on Wheels Orange County, NC (MOWOCNC) provide fresh fruit to accompany the hot nutritious meals provided Monday through Friday for seniors and disabled adults living in Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and parts of rural Orange County. Each meal includes milk, fresh fruit, and a homemade dessert. The volunteers who deliver the meals provide friendly check-in visits and help connect the recipients with needed services. MOWOCNC currently serves 200-220 meals each day and relies on a volunteer staff of 400 to help with packing, deliveries, and check-in visits and calls.
Neighborfood Express
Your Round Up donations at our Raleigh store provide fresh vegetables and fruit for our newest Community Food Partner—Neighborfood Express. Neighborfood Express delivers free weekly healthy groceries and supplies to families living in food insecure neighborhoods in Southeast and East Raleigh. Many of these residents lack both transportation and physical proximity to available food sources. Launched in November 2020, Neighborfood Express has delivered more than 70,000 pounds of food in its first year, along 6,770 books, 76 computers, and 321 diaper packs. The organization has provided referrals for additional support services to 266 individuals.
Orange Congregations in Mission (OCIM)
Your Round Up donations for Orange Congregations in Mission (OCIM) provide fresh vegetables and fruit for OCIM’s food pantry and fresh fruit for the OCIM’s Meals on Wheels program. In 2020, more than 11,000 individuals (including 3,636 children) received food through the food pantry, which received 272,091 pounds in donated food. OCIM relies on volunteers to fill more than 80 volunteer slots each month to keep the pantry running. OCIM’s ministries include its Samaritan Relief (which includes the food pantry and financial aid), a Thrift Shop, and its Meals on Wheels program. Each weekday, 35 to 50 seniors in Hillsborough and parts of rural Orange County receive hot meals through OCIM’s MOW program. OCIM recently celebrated its 40th anniversary of serving families in need.
Orange County Schools (OCS)
Your Round Up donations for Orange County Schools provide bags of fresh produce, dairy, and non-perishables to students at risk for hunger over the winter and spring school breaks when they do not have access to school meals. In 2021, Weaver Street partnered with OCS to provide more than 20 pallets of healthy food for 588 kids from six elementary schools—Central Elementary, Efland Cheeks Global, Grady A. Brown, Gravelly Hill, New Hope Elementary, and Pathways—as well as Partnership Academy and A.L. Stanback Middle School. Staff, volunteers, and parents sort the food, bag bulk items such as beans and rice, and help connect the food with the students’ parents.
PORCH Chapel Hill-Carrboro
Your Round Up donations for provide fresh vegetables and fruit for 190 families in PORCH’s Food for Families program. Each $30 rounded up provides a 40-pound box of fresh food. PORCH Chapel Hill-Carrboro became our first community partner when we launched our Community Food Partnership in 2015. The grassroots hunger-relief organization collects food and cash donations through monthly neighborhood food drives, then distributes the food to Chapel Hill and Carrboro families identified as food insecure. In 2020, PORCH Chapel Hill-Carrboro nearly doubled its impact over the previous year, delivering $730,000 in hunger relief to our neighbors during a time of intense hardship. About 200 volunteers are now serving an all-time high of 506 families and 2,135 individuals each month.
PORCH Hillsborough
Your Round Ups for PORCH Hillsborough helped this grassroot organization launch its Food for Families program. The program provides monthly boxes of food for 35 families at Central Elementary and Efland Cheeks Global. School social workers identify food-insecure families to participate in the program. PORCH and Weaver Street partner to provide fresh vegetables and fruit, Latta eggs, and Cabot cheese. Each $30 rounded up provides a 40-pound box of fresh food. Round Up funds at the Hillsborough store starting January 2022 will help the program expand into a third school, Hillsborough Elementary, and increase the number of families to as many as 70 families.
TABLE
Since 2015, your Round Up donations of more than $424,000 have supported Summer TABLE—TABLE’s summer meal program that provides fresh produce and healthy non-perishable food for food-insecure children who do not have access to school meals over the summer break. With this community support, TABLE has been able to extend its summer program from 7 to 10 weeks and increase the number of children from 350 to a record breaking 670 during the pandemic. During the school year, TABLE currently provides weekend backpack meals for more than 700 children. TABLE relies on more than 100 volunteers to sort, shelve, bag, and deliver the backpack meals. TABLE is currently delivering the food directly to children’s home due to Covid precautions.
If you have suggestions about the Round Up campaign, please contact Brenda at brenda.c@weaverstreetmarket.coop.