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Society of St. Andrew Georgia

Society of St. Andrew Georgia Gleaning Network opened in Tifton in 2007, and since has expanded to have a second office in Decatur in 2017. Society of St. Andrew (SoSA) covers a gleaning operation for all of the state of Georgia, overseen by a regional director. The state currently has one program coordinator, Sandi Newman at the original office in Tifton. The AmeriCorps member works alongside the regional director in Decatur, gathering best practices of gleaning in order to expand the gleaning network to other regions in the metro and North Georgia area. The rural SoSA region in Southern Georgia faces several challenges, including transportation for volunteers and recipients, aging populations, lack of access to fresh produce, and racially divided communities. The second location in the metro area lacks access to nearby, large-scale farmers; however, there are plenty of farmers markets and willing volunteers. Georgia ranks ninth in the nation when it comes to food insecurity for the senior population, and overall food insecurity for the state was 16.7% in 2015. As of September 2019, the SoSA Gleaning Network has collected 13.7 million pounds of produce for distribution to community agencies throughout Georgia.