THOMASVILLE — Second Harvest of South Georgia is preparing to host its monthly food giveaway this Saturday. 

The giveaway will start at 7 a.m. at Thomas County Central High School and will go on until supplies last. 

Supplies will include non-perishable and perishable food items such as produce, meat and bread. 

Eliza McCall, chief marketing officer for Second Harvest of South Georgia, said that the event will continue to be a drive-thru event to ensure everyone’s safety. 

“We will be providing food assistance in a drive-thru fashion. They’ll drive through the line and pop their trunks, or their back hatch and we will put the food in there,” she said. “We do so in a socially-distanced, safe manner to limit the amount of contact. We expect to serve several hundred households on Saturday morning.”

There is a max of two households per car and households with children will need to provide proof of eligibility to receive child boxes.

McCall said the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t slowed down Second Harvest’s efforts to improve food insecurity throughout Georgia.

“We have been doing this annually to keep our skills up, so we were able to swing into action within about 10 days of when the state of emergency was declared in the state of Georgia. We have just refined the process since then,” she said.

According to map.feedingamerica.org, as of 2019 in Thomas County alone the food insecurity rate was 14.6%. In the state of Georgia, the food insecurity rate was 12%. 

It’s because of these statistics and more that McCall said Second Harvest provides aid to families in need.

“South Georgia has some of the highest rates of food insecurity in the nation on a good day pre-COVID,” she said. “We provide folks with the assistance that they need without them sacrificing anything.”

McCall also said she hopes to meet the hunger-relief organization’s goal of positively impacting the community with events such as the food giveaway.

“From the time COVID started to this March, we put out 25 million pounds of food, which is equivalent to about 23 million meals. We are a huge operation,” she said. “Our goal is always to make sure we’re feeding our neighbors in need and this is no different. We want to make sure that people who are dealing with food insecurity have the nutrition that they need.”

McCall encourages everyone to arrive early for the food giveaway but not before 4:30 a.m. 

For more information and to stay updated on upcoming events, visit Second Harvest of South Georgia’s Facebook page.