Big news for two local hunger relief agencies – one of which is planning a major expansion, one of which is marking a major milestone.

The local nonprofit PORCH has raised nearly a million dollars for hunger relief since its founding four years ago – and in the next few weeks, they’ll pass that million-dollar mark officially.

On Monday, December 15, PORCH will hold a celebration to mark the milestone at 9:00 a.m. at the St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Chapel Hill. Carrboro Mayor Lydia Lavelle and Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt will be on hand to speak.

PORCH stands for People Offering Relief for Chapel Hill-Carrboro Homes. Founded in 2010, the organization raises about $20,000 each month in food and cash donations from about 140 participating neighborhoods in Chapel Hill and Carrboro.

People in participating neighborhoods place non-perishable food donations on their porch on PORCH designated food drive days. Then, PORCH volunteers pick up the donations and distribute them to eight local food pantries to help local families living below the poverty line.

Meanwhile: around 60 percent of preschool students and 24 percent of middle school students in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro School System receive free or reduced school meals. That’s why TABLE, another local grassroots non-profit, is expanding its services beyond just elementary school students. Now it will include preschool and middle school children as well.

TABLE provides healthy food to hungry students that are too young to provide for themselves. After its founding in 2008 that served 12 children, TABLE served 277 children this summer and is continuing to expand.

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