Veteran volunteer takes helm of food driven nonprofit
BY: Mickey Goodman
Andrea Jaron, the new executive director of Second Helpings Atlanta, brings a rich legacy of volunteerism to the organization. In college, she manned a suicide prevention hotline, and while in law school she worked at a free legal aid clinic. Following graduation, she became development director at the Southeast Region Anti-Defamation League and continues to serve as chair of the Jewish Women’s Fund, which is committed to effecting social change for Jewish women and girls.
The Brookhaven resident came to Second Helpings from Meals on Wheels, where she served as chief development officer. “It primed me for this position and gave me an awareness of food insecurity issues,” she says. “While Meals on Wheels focuses on providing and delivering meals for seniors, Second Helpings rescues healthy surplus food that would otherwise be thrown away and delivers it free of charge to more than 50 partner agencies that provide meals for a steady flow of clients of all ages.”
All rescued food—which includes large volumes of fresh, perishable and frozen prepared foods—is donated by more than 85 restaurants, grocery stores, corporate kitchens and large events such as the Super Bowl.
The organization has expanded exponentially since it began in 2004 at Temple Sinai in Sandy Springs. It became a standalone nonprofit in 2013 and now has 450 volunteers who rescued more than 1.4 million nutritious meals in 2018.
For more information on Second Helpings Atlanta, visit secondhelpingsatlanta.org.
