One Church Street
Nourishing Our Community
The work is starting!
Many of you have asked about the restoration work after the flooding that occurred in February of this year–well it’s beginning next week! Here’s a pic of Matt and Alistair working together to empty a closet at the Pantry (this is one of many loads that headed down into storage). This will impact our Pantry, but we’re doing our best to make sure that our essential work will continue even as the restoration goes on.
How long might it take? 6 – 8 week, we believe, but it could be longer than that. The goal is complete restoration, and then on to the Community Kitchen on the second floor! So much good work ahead, so much good work to do. One Church Street is never boring!!!
On Friday, Mtr. Laurie got to meet the folks who are helping us with the initial phases of the construction–Randy and Darren, from Martin Environmental Services, were reviewing and setting up areas for removing residual areas of asbestos and mold which have to occur before the full construction crew is on site. The asbestos is contained in strips of tape that pose no direct threat to folks working in the building, but all precautions must still be taken–air flow circulation, and completely containing the removal area behind temporary walls.
Things in the Pantry may look a little different as we move forward, but rest assured that we will continue to nourish our neighbors by providing emergency food resources, as we always have!
Darren and Randy cheerfully getting things set for the work beginning next week!
Who knew a baby grand piano could serve as a desk when needed? FYI–we are not going to be able to use this piano once construction of the Community Kitchen begins. It’s also been evaluated and we determined that the condition and quality of the piano would not make it worthwhile for us to restore–plus–there’s not enough space in the Dining Room area. More people, less piano!!!!
What a glorious night! The Sunset Market, complete with the World’s First Fundraising Carrot, is a wrap.
What made it great?
The farmers and vendors. What a hard-working and cheerful group of people, from a new local jeweler to organic meat to maple syrup ice cream to comb honey to cutting boards to salsa to face painting–it was a night full of interesting people sharing things they love, made or grew.
The volunteers.
Two shifts of people who were willing to do anything to help out. They set up and took down tents, made sure vendors had everything they needed, put batteries into twinkle lights, helped carry boxes and set up booths, worked with little ones to paint kindness rocks. What a crew!!
The musicians.
Kyle, Bill (and friends) and Michelle provided the BEST music for our event and created an atmosphere that made people want to sit and stay a while. So they did!
The weather.
Seriously. You couldn’t have asked for better weather and we can’t predict it. So the fact that we had this perfect autumn night with a nearly full moon gave us exactly the ambiance we wanted–a fall crisp, crystal clear night.
All of you.
Seeing so many people we knew and meeting new friends, all of whom were visiting the Market made our city feel even more like family.
Food Insecurity, which essentially means not knowing where your next meal is coming from, is a pressing problem in Fulton County. The rate of food insecurity is growing in our county, and ranks as one of the highest in the state. Currently, one out of every four families lives with food insecurity.
