Dear friends,

On October 1, another wave of SNAP changes began, shifting billions of dollars in costs onto states. It comes after a year in which about 5 million Americans lost SNAP food assistance. Pantries everywhere are feeling it, and some are serving twice as many neighbors as they were a year ago. The question is: how do we get more food to more pantries, faster? The answer is more PORCHes. That's why this has been a season of new partnerships and new communities, and why I'm so excited to share what's next.

One of the fastest ways to grow is to partner with food banks that already know their communities best. Last month, we launched a partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina, which works with 600 food assistance programs across its region. Together, we're working hand in hand with local pantries and the people they serve to find neighbors ready to become Neighborhood Coordinators. Each one can start a PORCH that keeps a local pantry stocked with the foods it needs most, month after month.

We're also growing through the places people work (that's us above at Bandwidth Inc. in Raleigh). This summer I shared PORCH's story with a lot of companies. When I describe neighbors leaving a bag of groceries on the porch, people light up, and many say, "We want our employees to be part of this." When I share the PORCH model with employees, they see a way to help feed their neighbors right where they live. Think about where you work, or where a friend works. Could they be our next partner? If you'd like to help make a connection for PORCH, I'd love to hear from you.

In the stories ahead, you'll see that growth in action, from a full pantry shelf in Camillus, NY, to the friends who remind us why this work matters. Every new PORCH begins with a neighbor who says yes. Thank you for saying yes with us. 

With gratitude,

Christine Makhuli Cotton

CEO, PORCH Communities

How Bernadette Brought PORCH to Camillus, NY

The picture that said it all. One January morning, Bernadette Irving's collection team walked into the drop-off area at St. Joseph's Food Pantry in Camillus, NY. The shelves were bare. By the time they left, the space was overflowing with food their neighbors had given. Bernadette snapped a photo. "When I looked at that picture, I thought — this is cool. This is really working."

It started last summer with Bernadette, two close friends, and a pitch to their HOA board. Right away, 18 households signed on, and that was just the beginning. See how one neighborhood is changing what shows up at the pantry each month.

One Summer. 50,000 More Meals a Year.

• 11 new communities launched

• 25 new neighborhoods joined PORCH

• 25 additional pantries being served every month

• 2 new states joining the PORCH family

Every new PORCH neighborhood provides roughly 2,000 meals a year. This summer, we expanded into 25 of them. That's about 50,000 more meals a year for families, from the newest PORCH in California to the newest in Wisconsin. And every one of our new partner pantries can now count on shelves stocked by neighbors, month after month. So when a parent, a senior, or a neighbor who's fallen on hard times walks through the door, they'll find what they need, and one less worry to carry home.

Could your neighborhood be next? 

"How far does that go nowadays?"

They worked full-time, for decades, the way you're supposed to. They saved what they could. They never expected to find themselves here. But Social Security and modest retirement funds weren't designed for what groceries, utilities, and healthcare cost today. So they share a home now to make the math work: two people who spent their lives being independent, quietly leaning on each other and on a pantry that doesn't ask questions.

After the bills are paid, he says, "we might have between $150, maybe $200 between two of us — and how far does that go nowadays?" And he's grateful: "God bless everybody whose hands have touched this."

Watch their story...

Stories like these are why PORCH Communities shows up every single month — and why your support makes all the difference. 

One neighborhood. 2,000 meals a year.

That's what happens when neighbors come together through PORCH. From New York to California, every new PORCH begins with people like you, and every one keeps a local pantry stocked with the food families need, month after month.

$500 equips a Neighborhood Coordinator to get started
$1,000 brings a new neighborhood on board
$5,000 launches a whole new PORCH community

Whatever you give, it starts something that keeps feeding families all year long. Together, we can bring a PORCH to every neighborhood.