Solidarity Sandy Springs provides more than 1 million pounds of food annually

Key Points:
• Solidarity Sandy Springs provides more than one million pounds of food to its clients annually.
• Sandy Springs awards a $25,000 grant to Solidarity Sandy Springs.
• The grant funds fresh produce purchases, enabling food pantry visitors to take home groceries to supplement their pantries.

Solidarity Sandy Springs co-founder and board member Jennifer Barnes told the Sandy Springs City Council at its Sept. 16 meeting that the organization provides more than one million pounds of food annually to food-insecure families.

Barnes told the council that Solidarity Sandy Springs uses the city’s $25,000 grant to buy fresh produce for its shoppers.

What was started as a temporary emergency food pantry that Barnes and her friend, Sonia Simon, thought would feed 10 families for two weeks has now served more than 100,000 shoppers in the past five years. In 2024, Solidarity Sandy Springs served 26,522 shoppers, with 22,762 served so far this year. The organization had 120 new shoppers in August alone.

Barnes and Thomas, for seven years, had been sponsoring kids from apartment complexes in the North Woods neighborhood so they could attend summer camps. That’s until they learned that school they attended would go virtual because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The duo panicked because they knew that many of the children they sponsored got their breakfast and lunch at school.

“And honestly, the stories you hear about kids who save half of their sandwich to take home for their moms, this actually exists in our own backyard,” Barnes said.

Solidarity Sandy Springs operates a free-choice market that enables shoppers to select nutritionally dense food items. Support primarily comes from volunteers and local donors. Solidarity Sandy Springs relies on more than 5,000 volunteers to assist in its mission.

The nonprofit organization is in its seventh location, now in a former lawnmower repair shop that has been converted into a food pantry, thanks to Regency Partners, who offered it space in the Sandy Springs Plaza Shopping Center.

Barnes said the people they serve walk out of the food pantry with 45 to 60 pounds of food worth more than $200.

In the beginning, Barnes said she thought that Solidarity Sandy Springs’ efforts were merely keeping people from going hungry. She now believes it serves as a good safety net because the families they help now have enough food, and they don’t have to choose between buying food or paying their rent or utilities.

The people Solidarity Sandy Springs serves often suffer from health-related issues like high blood pressure and high blood sugar. Barnes hopes the fresh produce, protein, milk, and eggs provided helps them improve their health.

Solidarity Sandy Springs has increased its reach into the community by stepping outside the food pantry and visiting where its shoppers live.

The organization learned that the Dorothy C. Benson Senior Multipurpose Complex participated in a program three years ago wherein farmers provided boxes of produce for $50. Barnes said the center had 75 boxes to distribute, but 125 seniors had signed up for boxes. That’s when they decided to step in and ensure all the seniors who sign up receive produce.

One Friday per month, Solidarity Sandy Springs holds a pop-up market at the center. This month, 170 seniors collected produce from the market.

Barnes said three years ago Solidarity Sandy Springs also learned from shoppers about Sterling Place, a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-subsidized property on Carpenter Drive.

Related Stories:
• Sandy Springs food pantry grows to serve thousands
• Springboard connects nonprofits with volunteers, donors
• Solidarity Sandy Springs opens new location

The nonprofit decided to adopt them for Valentine’s Day to provide cleaning supplies, as per their request. That effort expanded to a monthly pop-up food pantry serving 60 to 70 people. And a few months ago, Campbell Stone, another HUD-subsidized property located just north of the Perimeter at 350 Carpenter Drive in Sandy Springs now has pop-up market there once a month.

Barnes said another Solidarity Sandy Springs’ goal is to create experiences for the community, with a focus on children. Events include:

• Mother’s Day celebration in collaboration with La Amistad for 380 kids;
•  Secret Santa party that had more than 1,000 kids participating;
•  Thanksgiving bags;
•  Summer camp at Camp Grace in Crawford County with 39 kids;
•  Kids’ shopping market held in December at La Amistad, 120 Northwood Drive, Sandy Springs;
•  Northside Hospital Pop-Up Healthcare Screening on Aug. 28 at the food pantry;
•  Easter egg hunt for 300 kids with 60,000 eggs at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School and Church.

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