Augusta, GA

Nonprofits see rise in food insecurity in Augusta area

Published

2 years ago

February 28, 2024

Nonprofits see rise in food insecurity in Augusta area

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Some families are choosing between paying a bill or putting food on their table.

The United States Department of Agriculture says the price for food-at-home was 5% higher in 2023 than in 2022, breaking the 20-year level for food price inflation at 2.5%.

In Augusta, Master’s Table Soup Kitchen is seeing a growing need every passing month. Every day hundreds of people line up for a warm meal outside of the Master’s Table Soup Kitchen.

“The food insecurity, right now, to me, it’s very scary. We are seeing a high in hunger and feeding trays. Then on the opposite end, our donations are very low,” said manager LaDonna Doleman.

As the line grows longer, leaders say yearly totals of trays served are now becoming monthly totals.

“The food prices for eggs and bread now are extreme. So now that you’re going in the grocery store a lot more families are now choosing and picking what is mandatory and what is not,” said Doleman.

In 2018, the soup kitchen served 6,000 trays in a 12-month period.

Within the first month of 2024, Doleman says they served more than 9,000 trays.

“The beginning of this year, we started out with 9,053 trays that we did for the month of January,” said Doleman.

But what they need the most, Doleman said can’t be found at the soup kitchen — it’s in the community

“For 2024, my word is help. We need help. We need those donations. We need those volunteer times,” said Doleman.

A place that forever changes lives just like Barbie Izquierdo.

“My mom was food insecure with myself and my brother. When I had children, unfortunately, I sort of fell into the same thing. When there are spaces like this, where community members can come together and feel that camaraderie, I think it’s something that definitely does help the morale of having to deal with being food insecure,” said Izquierdo.

If you would like to help, you can drop items off at the soup kitchen, donate money, or sign up here to help serve. Doleman says any one of these things will help.

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Augusta, GA

One dead following a shooting in Richmond County

Published

12 hours ago

March 28, 2026

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One dead following a shooting in Richmond County

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The Richmond County Coroner’s Office said a person has died after a shooting on Division Street Saturday afternoon.

Officials say the shooting happened at the 2100 block around 4 p.m.

The victim was shot at least one time and taken to Wellstar MCG, where he later died, the coroner’s office says.

The sheriff’s office also went to Division Street at approximately 4 p.m. in reference to the incident, deputies say.

An autopsy has been scheduled.

No further information is available at this time.

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Augusta, GA

Sandusky Ohio News | Sandusky Register

Published

1 day ago

March 28, 2026

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<br /> Sandusky Ohio News | Sandusky Register <br />

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Augusta, GA

Augusta’s Turpin neighborhood to get affordable homes with $1.85M federal grant

Published

2 days ago

March 27, 2026

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Augusta’s Turpin neighborhood to get affordable homes with .85M federal grant

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The historic Turpin neighborhood will soon welcome more affordable homes after Augusta Habitat for Humanity was awarded $1.85 million in federal funding this week.

The grant will fund the construction of at least 12 homes in the area.

“Habitat for Humanity applied for federal funding, and they were awarded the funding,” said District 2 Commissioner Stacy Pulliam.

Reviving a historic community

The Turpin neighborhood was once home to professionals, including educators, doctors, and lawyers.

“These big professionals that lived mostly over this way,” one resident said of the neighborhood’s history.

Pulliam described the area’s former prominence as “its grand days of glory, when it was the place.”

The project brings together city organizers and community partners through the Georgia Initiative for Community Housing, or GICH.

“We have so many partners. We have the Housing Authority on board. We have a representative from the Hub on board,” Pulliam said. “There’s so many great partners at the table that’s helping pull all of this together.”

Federal support and future plans

The project received backing from Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.

Habitat for Humanity, with support from GICH, focused its application on Turpin Hill intentionally, as officials say the community had been needing to be addressed for years.

With Habitat for Humanity continuing to advocate for more funds, Pulliam said their motivation could lead to additional housing development in the future.

“We keep going and going and going,” she said. “Now we can do 20. Now we can do multifamily. So it’s fueling our fire to get more housing, but not just housing, to clean up the area.”

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