Georgia SDF Continues POD

One of the missions of the Georgia State Defense Force have been to assist the National Guard with POD (Point Of Distribution) of supplies.  These supplies are offered to the people of Georgia who are struggling during this national emergency. The mission began at the outset of the Coronavirus outbreak and have been continuing providing families in need essential supplies to survive.

Here is a video & news article from CBS 46 regarding the mission:

 National Guard deploys units to help at food pantries during pandemic

• Trason Bragg
• Updated Apr 10, 2020| Posted on Apr 9, 2020

ATLANTA, Ga. (CBS46) — This week Sergeant Kerry Hatcher received the orders he’d been waiting on for some time.

“It was a really good sort of rush of adrenaline to know that I was getting into the fight and joining my fellow soldiers on the front line doing what I can to help win this battle against this hidden enemy,” Sgt. Hatcher told CBS46.

Hatcher is in the Georgia State Defense Force. It is the volunteer arm of the Georgia National Guard. And that hidden enemy he spoke of, it is COVID-19.

“It’s not that there’s not groceries on the shelf, but there’s just not money in the bank and that’s what we’re working to solve,” Sgt. Hatcher explained.

The virus has forced businesses to close. That led to a lack of income and hungry Georgians. It’s why members of the guard all over the state were deployed to food pantries to pack tens of thousands of meal boxes.

“The line stretched all the way from where we were all the way through the museum parking lot, down the street, and all the way down across the overpass and into town.”

That line was over a mile long.

“We were just thrilled when these troops showed up,” said Eliza McCall, chief marketing officer of Second Harvest South Georgia.

McCall told Sgt. Hatcher’s unit to pack more than 35,000 supply boxes. Each box is an answer to a prayer in South Georgia these days.

“We have among the highest rates in the nation of food insecurity,” McCall explained.

McCall told CBS46 those rates have drastically grown since the Coronavirus showed up.

“We are expected to be down here until the suffering of the citizens of Georgia comes to an end,” Hatcher added.

For more information on Second Harvest South Georgia, click here.

Source: CBS 46

Here are some photos of Georgia State Defense Force troops in Action:

Members of the Georgia State Defense Force from across the state pack supply boxes at Second Harvest of South Georgia food bank in Valdosta, Georgia April 8, 2020. The third week of the mission, boxes for over 30,000 families had been boxed and palletized, ready for distribution.
Georgia State Defense Force photo by Sgt. Kerry Hatcher

Members of the Georgia State Defense Force from across the state distribute supplies at Second Harvest of South Georgia’s Point of Distribution (POD) in Tifton, Georgia, April 9, 2020. Over 1,750 households picked up supplies in a matter of hours at the drive though POD operation.
Georgia State Defense Force photo by Sgt. Kerry Hatcher

Source: Georgia State Defense Force