Several months ago, one of our valued clients, Bill Fillman, reached out for assistance in incorporating a non-profit designed to help local restaurants and front line workers struggling in the wake of COVID-19. This week, he is up and running and so I’ve invited him to share the story of North Fulton Food It Forward, Inc. The work he is doing helps boost our community in multiple ways. I hope that if you are in a position to give, you will consider a donation to this exceptional organization.
IT STARTED WITH CUPCAKES … Long story short, I wanted to bring some smiles to local essential workers and happened to be in a bakery when the thought was present. Once a month for the past several months I have been delivering 7-15 dozen cupcakes to local essential workers… It’s just rewarding to receive their smiles in return.
Then COVID-19 arrived, and shortly thereafter I happened to watch a TV interview with Leslie Gudel, who started a non-profit called “Food It Forward” in Pennsylvania, giving gift cards from local eateries to local essential workers fighting the pandemic. And I thought, “I could do that”.
With a starter kit from Leslie and a bit of advice from Debbie on non-profit incorporation, North Fulton Food It Forward, Inc. was on its way. It has recently received its 501(c)(3) tax exemption as a public charity, so donors can deduct contributions they make. And on July 19, 2020, the website went live.
100% of all donations directed through https://nffooditforward.org will go directly to purchasing gift cards from Alpharetta and Johns Creek locally-based restaurants, which helps owners and employees.
100% of those gift cards will be donated to Emory Johns Creek hospital, The Memory Center (Johns Creek), local nursing care homes, and local fire stations and police stations for their essential workers.
Our local N. F. restaurants have already suffered greatly. Some restaurants have shut down while others have been reduced to “drive through” businesses, at best, which has been financially devastating for both the owners and their employees.
Meanwhile, the strain on health care and first responder essential workers has grown dramatically. Health care workers are putting their lives at risk every hour of every day for us. A lesser-publicized reality is that municipal tax revenues are sinking, seriously jeopardizing the jobs of first responders who are risking their lives for us every day.
The team at North Fulton Food It Forward donates our time to hosting the website, contacting the restaurants, confirming they issue gift cards, ordering the gift cards, and delivering the gift cards because we want to help our community thrive. Restaurants are helped, front line workers are helped. When you donate, you should feel good about that. And, know that we are so very grateful to you for your donations which will help us reach more restaurants and more essential workers.
Thank you for your support,
Bill Fillman
We are so honored to have our clients voting for us as one of the Best Law Firms in North Atlanta. Click here to cast your vote!
Recent Comments