Nonprofit Spotlight: City Bridges Food Pantry

When you see a need in your community, you step up, and that’s exactly what New City Church did nearly 20 years ago when it launched City Bridges Food Pantry. What started as a small outreach effort has grown into a vital resource for over 4,000 families monthly facing food insecurity across Atlanta.

In 2024, the agency distributed nearly 950,000 pounds of food distributed to more than 50,000 people in need. That’s not just food—it’s stability, it’s care, and it’s compassion delivered right to the doorstep of those who need it most.

We’re thrilled to celebrate partners like City Bridges Food Pantry who show us what’s possible when purpose and community come together.

Learn more about City Bridges Food Pantry below!

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Tell us about your organization – what’s your mission, and what does it mean to the our community?

Our mission is to fight hunger and nourish hope by providing access to nutritious food and essential resources to individuals and families in need. Through compassion, community partnerships, and dignity-driven service, we strive to alleviate food insecurity and foster a stronger, more resilient community. We've had feedback from several clients stating they appreciate being treated with compassion, kindness and respect and they are very grateful for the consistent help they receive.

What kind of programming do you offer to the community?

City Bridges offers two food pantries, one in Fairburn and the other in Peachtree City that distribute food two days per week and serve over 4,000 people monthly.

What problem is your organization trying to solve, and can you tell us more about the issue?

The Atlanta Community Food Bank reports that 1 in 6 children will go to bed hungry tonight and 1 in 9 Georgians is food insecure. We are partnering with Atlanta Community Food Bank to help fight hunger in our community.

How do volunteers support your mission? What impact do they have on your work? What difference do they make?

Hands On Atlanta volunteers have played a vital role in the operation of our pantry. From picking up donations and unloading trucks to packaging food and assisting with distribution, their support has been invaluable. We truly couldn’t do what we do without them.

What’s your biggest highlight or success from the past year?

Our pantry has served over 50,000 people in need over the past year. This number has risen annually and our challenges have been very real, but God has enabled us to keep meeting the needs both emotional and physical in our community in spite of the challenges and this is a wonderful thing.

How many volunteers do you need every month, and can you describe the experience of serving with your organization for the volunteer? What do they do? What’s a day in the life as a volunteer with your organization?

We have 200 volunteer opportunities per month. Volunteers are greeted by our volunteer coordinator and given the instruction they need to fulfill the task that best suits them. They are then partnered with our regular volunteers to complete their task.

“Terry is our volunteer coordinator. He has a genuine love for people and enjoys interacting with the volunteers and serving our clients.”

— City Bridges Staff

What types of projects do you offer? What are your biggest projects available, and needs from volunteers? Tell us about a few different offerings.

Our volunteer projects include unloading donations from the trucks, sorting and packaging food for distribution, delivering and loading food into cars. Volunteers can also help package backpack meals to be delivered to a local school for students who have been identified with significant food insecurity.

What do volunteers love about working with your organization?

Our volunteers love knowing they are doing something that is making a tangible difference for someone in need

What’s going to be happening with your organization in 2025 that you’re really excited about?

We are excited to be purchasing an additional truck to make donation pick ups much more efficient and increase the capacity to serve more people.

Let’s leave our readers with a list of ways they can jump in and get involved. Tell us how we can support you!

We welcome volunteers to join us in receiving, packaging and distributing food to our neighbors as the need continues to rise.