Having made a commitment to help meet the food needs of area residents following last year’s Hurricane Michael, Albany’s AB&T was honored this week to present a $10,000 check to the Second Harvest of South Georgia food bank.

That check, which was funded through donations made to the bank’s Restore & Replenish campaign by clients, colleagues and bank associates will allow the food bank to bring much-needed food stores to South Georgia, thereby alleviating some of the pressure placed on area residents following the hurricane and the 2018 holiday season.

“I can’t thank AB&T enough for leading this campaign to raise funds to feed the residents of this area,” said Second Harvest of South Georgia Marketing Officer Eliza McCall. “Our area has the highest rate of childhood food insecurity in the state and the 2nd Congressional District, of which Albany is a part, has the highest rate of food security in the country.

“We already work hard to end hunger in South Georgia, but Hurricane Michael, like the tornados in 2017, created a secondary crisis. Add to that the scarcity of available food during the holiday months, when children are out of school and perhaps aren’t getting those regular meals, and the need becomes even greater.”

McCall went on to explain that while traditional canned food drives can go a long way toward alleviating some of those food insecurity issues, the food bank can have an even greater impact when receiving monetary donations. For every dollar donated to the organization, McCall said, Second Harvest can provide 8.77 meals.

“We never want to discourage anyone from having a food drive,” she said. “Those are vital to our efforts to feed area residents, but with monetary donations we can help so many more. The impact is exponential.”

Because of the important, potential impact of monetary donations, leaders at AB&T therefore elected to start the Restore & Replenish campaign in October and focus efforts on collecting monetary donations in addition to non-perishable foods.

“Following Michael, we felt it was important that the bank and its associates do their part to help the people of this area recover from such a widespread disaster,” said AB&T Chairman, President and CEO Luke Flatt. “Because of the relationship we forged with Eliza and Second Harvest following the storms of 2017, we knew food scarcity would again be an issue, so it made sense for us to focus our efforts on helping to feed area residents.”

Flatt went on to say that Restore & Replenish was so well-received by clients, bank associates and others within the community and without, that the bank ultimately continued collecting donations through the end of the year to help Second Harvest restock its food stores following the always-busy holiday season.

“It became apparent soon after we launched Restore & Replenish that not only was the need in our area great, but that the good people of this community and of this state were eager to support our efforts,” Flatt added. “The response to the campaign was tremendous and we’re humbled by the generosity that we witnessed throughout.”

Indeed, Flatt said after he shared the particulars of the fundraising campaign with some of his colleagues across the state while at a Georgia Bankers Association CEO roundtable, he was contacted by Monty Watson, chairman and CEO of The Piedmont Bank in Norcross, who offered to help.

“I was meeting with a group of bank CEOs from around the state shortly after the hurricane and many of those in attendance wanted to know the state of things in Southwest Georgia and what they could do to help,” said Flatt. “After bringing them up to speed on the long recovery our area was facing, I also shared what we were doing with Restore & Replenish.

“Following that meeting I received checks from a couple of banks and their respective CEOs, but then a few weeks later I was blown away after receiving an envelope full of personal check donations from The Piedmont Bank.”

Flatt said that the associates of The Piedmont Bank decided to make Restore & Replenish their holiday fundraiser for 2018 and that the bank committed to matching any donations its associates made.

“It’s a wonderful thing to see such generosity from strangers who are simply concerned about the well-being of their fellow man,” Flatt said. “The world is full of good people and the people of The Piedmont Bank surely stand among them.”

Thanks to efforts like that the proceeds from Restore & Replenish can now be used to provide more than 87,000 meals to south Georgians in need, something not lost on McCall, who pointed out how crucial corporate partnerships are to the mission of Second Harvest.

“We can do none of our work, or work toward our mission of feeding all of South Georgia, without the help of our partners in our district,” McCall said. “So without the help of AB&T and other donors, and without the help of our partner agencies who use us as a resource to help their neighbors in need, we wouldn’t be able to accomplish this. We wouldn’t be able to do what we do.

“The help of AB&T is crucial for us being able to feed as many as possible. I just can’t thank them enough.”

Even though Restore & Replenish was a success, both McCall and Flatt pointed out that the area is still suffering from food insecurity and will be for some time without support from the surrounding communities.

“Second Harvest is doing incredible work, but there’s still so much that needs to be done,” said Flatt. “As an organization, AB&T is committed to doing its part to meet the needs of our community, so we hope we’ll have even more opportunities in the future to partner with Second Harvest.”