Kristina McCarthney has been a Sterling resident for 17 years. Their family has a heart for serving others. Going into the summer of 2022, her daughter, Haylee, realized that children were suffering from food insecurities. Haylee and her friend Charley wanted to do something about it. They began making sandwiches for The Sandwich Project. Unfortunately, the closest host site was about 45 minutes away, serving the Atlanta area. As they got more friends involved, their passion grew. They contacted The Sandwich Project on how they could become a host site. They were looking forward to helping people closer to their community. In October 2022, they organized the Sterling Club House as a host site and many neighbors were able to join in the fight against hunger! This site serves people in Flowery Branch, Braselton, Oakwood, Buford, North Gwinnett, and Hall County.

 

The Sandwich Project is a non-profit organization whose volunteers assemble and donate fresh, homemade sandwiches each week for immediate consumption to meet the food scarcity needs in our community. They take monetary donations or grocery store gift cards, and supplies, as well as assembled PB&J, turkey & cheese, and ham cheese sandwiches. They also accept granola bars/high-protein bars, and whole fresh fruit. Currently, they donate weekly to Good News at Noon, My Sisters Place, Family Promise, and the North Gwinnett Mobile Truck. Kristina shared the fact that close to a quarter of Georgia's children do not have enough to eat. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the percentage of Georgians experiencing food insecurity has risen from 13% to 16%. Surprisingly, more than a third of these people are ineligible for food assistance programs in the state.

 

Kristina and Haylee are so thankful for the families, neighbors, organizations, school clubs, and companies who have already donated to their host site. In addition to local residents, a few of the organizations helping out are The Empty Nesters, Boy Scouts, The Bell Team, The Key Club at Cherokee Bluff HS, and Garrard Construction. The sandwich total for June-Dec 2022 was 5278 from our Flowery Branch Host Site, averaging 250-325 sandwiches weekly! They have a great vision to continue to grow this wonderful outreach ministry! When asked what their favorite part of helping with The Sandwich Project was Kristina shared, “We love to serve our community while having fun doing it. It is so heart-filling to meet people, see the impact of our sandwiches, and see how truly thankful they are.”

 

If you are interested in joining this wonderful cause, check out the organization’s website: thesandwichproject.org. You can also follow them on Facebook by searching for “Flowery Branch/Buford/Braselton/Oakwood The Sandwich Project.”