ATLANTA—September is “Hunger Awareness” month, and parishes in the Archdiocese of Atlanta are invited to join together with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the  St. Vincent de Paul Society and the Atlanta Community Food Bank to help feed the hungry in the community.

Parishes have the option to collect food for their own food pantries, for neighboring parishes, for local community food pantries or for one of the ‘Client Choice’ food pantries at the St. Vincent de Paul Family Support Centers (www.svdpatl.org/what-we-do/food-pantries/).

Churches are asked to start planning their September 2013 parish food drive now.

Kat Doyle, director of the Office of Justice & Peace Ministries, provided instructions for signing up:

1. Pick a date or dates in September for the parish food drive.

2. Contact the Office of Justice & Peace Ministries and let them know how the parish will participate. Email justpeace@archatl.com or call 404-920-7895.

3. Choose the pantry that will benefit from the parish’s food drive, identify the most needed items and make arrangements for delivery of food.

4. Spread the word and let the parish know the dates and details of the collection.

5. Collect the food!

6. Deliver the food to the chosen food pantry.

7. Contact the Office of Justice & Peace Ministries and let them know how much food the parish collected!

Justice & Peace Ministries would welcome photographs and stories of the food drives from parishes that participate.

A community food drive flyer that can be personalized for each parish is also available at the Justice & Peace website: www.archatl.com/ministries/jpm/fooddrive/.