An Open Letter to our Columbus Neighbors
March 12, 2026
An Open Letter to our Columbus Neighbors
We were deeply moved by the outpouring of kindness and generosity from this community in response to our recent Facebook post about the cancellation of today’s food distribution. The response brought many of us to tears.
The many food donations brought to our doors are a beautiful example of how deeply the people of Columbus care for this community. Your compassion and willingness to step forward in a moment of need mean more than words can express. We are profoundly grateful to be part of a community with such generous hearts.
For more than forty years, St. Anne Outreach has humbly grown through the faith, generosity, and commitment of St. Anne parishioners and the greater Columbus community. We are blessed to serve our community through three emergency programs: groceries for families in need, rental assistance for those facing eviction, and utility assistance for households at risk of losing water, power, or gas. Since 2024, Outreach has provided $254,707 in rental assistance, $148,217 in utility assistance, and groceries to 48,625 of our neighbors.
As our efforts to serve the community have grown, so too has our reliance on the broader food bank network that helps make this work possible across the state and nation. Feeding the Valley has shared that our pantry is the largest among the seventeen counties they serve, purchasing nearly twice the amount of food as any other partner agency. Through their network, we are able to secure fresh produce and to buy reclaimed meat through the generosity of retailers who donate these items to Feeding the Valley.
Yet even with these blessings, we are faced with a significant challenge. The staple foods that help families prepare lasting meals—canned goods, rice, pasta, and other pantry essentials—are largely unavailable because Feeding the Valley does not currently have them for partner agencies to purchase. In a recent news interview, the food bank shared that it is operating at only 16% capacity. Much of what we currently distribute comes from food generously donated by Publix, Walmart, and others to Feeding the Valley. Without the commitment of these retailers to give back, our work would cease completely.
Each month, our food budget allows us to purchase approximately $5,600 of food through Feeding the Valley at nineteen cents per pound. When our shelves run empty, the only remaining option is to purchase food at full retail price. Unfortunately, this is not a sustainable solution. At retail cost, that same budget cannot stretch far enough to feed the nearly 600 families who rely on us each month. Without a more sustainable path forward, we may eventually be forced to reevaluate the level of support we are able to provide to the community.
This morning we saw news shared by Feeding Georgia that in mid-February, the Department of Agriculture announced a $263 million purchase of dairy and agricultural products to be distributed to food banks across the country. Feeding Georgia’s CEO, Julie Kuykendall, indicated in an interview they expected to see these products available to provide immediate and timely relief to food banks across the state. As a pantry at the very end of the food supply chain, we pray that Feeding the Valley will be able to secure a portion of these resources and make them available to its ministry partners.
Over the past year, we have witnessed God multiply loaves and fishes through the generosity of this community. Time and again, when the need has arisen, the people of Columbus have shown up with compassion, creativity, and generosity.
Yet when we seek solutions from within the food bank network, the message we often hear is simply to “give less” or “do less.” For those of us called to serve our neighbors, this is a difficult answer to accept. As members of the Body of Christ, we hold fast to the belief that with God, all things are possible.
We believe this is a crossroads moment. Honest conversations and shared responsibility are the only way forward if we are to meet this need and ensure that no neighbor in our community goes hungry. No one will care more about Columbus than Columbus.
With gratitude for the generosity already shown, and hope for what we can accomplish together,
The St. Anne Outreach Team