For many years, Tariq Baiyina has been my partner in what John Lewis calls “good trouble.” Since we started sheltering-in-place, Tariq and I have lamented the food insecure people throughout Atlanta — in rehab centers, in homeless shelters, at prisons, and in apartments in south Atlanta. When Tariq got a call that Hosea Helps had thousands of pounds of fresh produce from Atlanta restaurants, any anyone who had a truck could have it, well — we rented a truck: a 26-foot Penske truck. I’m grateful that I could ride shotgun with Tariq for two days as we drove around delivering food.

For the first 36 hours, we delivered 15,000 pounds of potatoes, 2,500 pounds of carrots, 3,000 pounds of broccoli, 4,000 pounds of lemons, plus 2,500 pounds of tomatoes, avocados, peppers, jalapeños, oranges, pineapples, green, onions, and fresh ginger. Thanks to Joby Higinbotham, we were able to get 24,000 pounds of fresh produce off the truck and into the hands of families.

A second delivery the following week was made possible by Tariq, Preston Townsend, Patrick Rodriguez, and Joby Higinbotham.

Thank you to Patrick Rodriguez for this video of the second delivery!

We have plans to keep delivering, thanks to a partnership among Common Good Atlanta, IMAN, and Hosea Helps.