First off… Wow are the Twitter and the social networking communities in Atlanta alive and well!  The response has been very positive and I really appreciate the thoughts, suggestions, and feedback you’ve offered, as well as how many of you have offered to help if needed.  It’s really great to be part of such a fantastic community, virtual and real!  If this is your first visit, please check out the background of the Atlantahelps idea here, and welcome!

This month I’m focused on the Atlanta Community Food Bank (ACFB) which is, as so many are, suffering with the current economic crisis.  From the ACFB web site:

“Demand is up more than 10% and rising. Our neighbors are losing their jobs, their homes, and now are choosing between buying gas, medicine or food for themselves and their families. The Atlanta Community Food Bank will distributes more 2 million pounds of food this month to those in need, but we need your help today.”

As a first step I reached out to the ACFB via phone last week and they are happy to have us trying to help.  The facility is in West Midtown, so I thought it would be best to do the dropoff give on a week night since a lot of people are already downtown for work.  With that in mind, I’ve proposed the evening of Thursday January 29th from 6–8pm with a possible tour of the facility (which sounds impressive!) at 7pm.  That evening hasn’t been confirmed yet, but I’m hopeful I will hear something definite from them this week.  It has also been suggested that maybe we meet for a drink afterwards somewhere close (maybe Octane!), if there is interest in doing so.

And, for anyone who may want to give but who can’t make it out that night, I noticed that they have a virtual give / donations link on the site (it’s also linked directly from the ACFB homepage for anyone who might be hesitant to click on the link and then input payment info).  If anyone is interested in giving this way, I found the following info:

“93 cents of every dollar donated goes directly back to the community. The Atlanta Community Food Bank is a nonprofit 501c(3) organization (EIN/tax ID number: 58-1376648). Your donations are fully tax-deductible to the extent allowable by law.  The Atlanta Community Food Bank does not conduct telephone appeals and does not authorize others to do so on our behalf. Please protect your privacy and do not give to any solicitors over the phone. The Atlanta Community Food Bank does not share or rent our donor list.”

Finally, since this is the first month of Atlantahelps I’m obviously not sure if we will have a big or small response so I made the ACFB aware of that.  The goal here is to continue to keep this very low pressure, and it may well be that it’s just me giving a little back, but I’m really beginning to hope it might be more.

Finally, I have been in touch with the women (Maigh and Tessa) who run the monthly Atlanta Twitter group meetup and Maigh had the outstanding and big-hearted idea that we allow people to give at the actual meetup as well as the end of month, starting with the February tweetup.  Look for more on that in the coming month!

I will update the blog as soon as the date / time for the tour of the facility is confirmed, and thanks again to everyone who is thinking of participating!!