CAIRO AMERIS BANK EMPLOYEES are ready to collect nonperishable food items this month during their annual “Helping Fight Hunger” initiative. Pictured, l-r, Melissa Wilder, Marty Cannington, Samella Thornton, Monique Florence, Teresa Norton, Kim Ivery, Diane Davis, Linda Bell and Cheyenne Childs.
Ameris Bank has launched its 11th annual “Helping Fight Hunger” initiative this October. Bank leaders say due to COVID-19, this project is more important than ever as food insecurity is up by 60 percent, according to Feeding America.
While this year’s campaign may look a little different to observe social distancing practices, organizers say the focus will remain to collect as many nonperishable food items as possible during the month of October.
Throughout the month of October, anyone can drop off nonperishable food items at designated collection boxes at Cairo’s Ameris Bank during business hours. All collected goods will then be donated to the Help Agency in Cairo.
“Food insecurity is more prevalent now than ever before due to COVID-19, and our Helping Fight Hunger initiative is a way for us to help tackle an ever-growing issue that is in our backyard,” said Ameris Bank C.E.O. Palmer Proctor. “Year after year we have been able to provide relief and support to our local food banks and to those they serve. Today, we recognize and understand that our communities are further impacted and affected by these unprecedented times in different ways. Feeding America reported that this year, one in four children (over 18 million total) won’t know where they will get their next meal. We are committed to supporting them, their families and our communities at large, and believe this is one initiative that will make an immediate and lasting impact.”
Each year, Helping Fight Hunger directly impacts communities where Ameris Bank operates. Last year, the company collected a total of over 2.6 million nonperishable food items. Since the inception of Helping Fight Hunger in 2010, Ameris Bank has collected nearly nine million food items and donated more than $900,000 to over 139 partner food banks throughout 135 communities in the Southeast.
