ATLANTA, Ga — In the dark basement of West Hunter Street Baptist Church in Southwest Atlanta, Ernesta Ingram says she has been very worried.
“When that came, I immediately thought about my meat. My meat and my dairy,” Ernesta said.
She’s the executive director of the Southwest Ecumenical Emergency Assistance Center, SWEEAC for short.
It’s a non-profit that provides meals to 50,000 local families.
“We had to throw away about $5,000 worth of fruits, vegetables, meat, and dairy,” Ernesta said.
Hurricane Zeta was to blame. The storm blew up a transformer and knocked out the power to SWEEAC’s refrigerators and freezers with Thanksgiving right around the corner.
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“It’s a very stressful time. Families are looking for work, but also looking for their next meal,” SWEEAC’s Daniel Pooser said.
Volunteers and donors moved quickly. A generator now powers part of the pantry. The charity rented a refrigerated truck for the frozen food.
This week a crew boxed up and delivered 300 meals, including a Thanksgiving turkey for every family.
“The people in those communities were just in tears. They did not expect that much food to come their way. They were so happy there were able to get the food they need for their family,” Ernesta said.
The charity is now working to buy thousands of toys to be given to children for Christmas. If you’d like to help, check out the organization’s website.
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