Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens joined Grammy-winning artist and philanthropist Ciara Princess Wilson on Tuesday, December 23, to announce a $500,000 donation aimed at strengthening food access for families across Atlanta and Georgia, directing major support to the Atlanta Community Food Bank and Southwest Atlanta Cares.
The announcement was made at the Southwest Atlanta Cares Hub inside the fellowship hall of Saint Peter Missionary Baptist Church, a longtime anchor in Atlanta’s West End area. The location highlighted the city’s reliance on neighborhood-based institutions as food insecurity continues to rise across metro Atlanta and North Georgia, particularly during the winter months.
Ciara said the donation, made through the Why Not You Foundation she shares with her husband, New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson, reflects both her personal ties to Atlanta and the broader need facing families throughout Georgia. She described Atlanta as a city that helped shape her values and sense of purpose. Though born in Fort Hood, Texas, Ciara spent her teenage years in College Park, a suburb of Atlanta, where her family ultimately settled after moving across the country as part of a military upbringing. She attended North Clayton High School before graduating from Riverdale, and said her connection to metro Atlanta remains central to how she understands community and responsibility. Ciara added that the region’s ongoing struggles with hunger, particularly among children and working families speak to the need for sustained, local investment rather than one-time relief.
“One in six children goes to bed hungry, and that has to change,” Ciara said while announcing the $500,000 contribution. She said the gift is intended to expand food security efforts while empowering families and young people across Atlanta to pursue their goals with stability and dignity.
Dickens said the donation builds on recent citywide efforts to address food access, including the launch of ATL Cares, an emergency response initiative created after delays in federal SNAP benefits disrupted households throughout Atlanta. Those delays, he said, exposed how quickly families across Georgia can be pushed into crisis when safety nets falter.
The mayor credited the Atlanta Community Food Bank and its partners for stepping in during that period, providing emergency food distribution at a time when demand was already elevated. He said sustaining those services requires long-term investment and collaboration between city government, nonprofit organizations and private donors.
“This donation means more meals on tables for people who otherwise wouldn’t have access,” Dickens said, adding that food security remains a cornerstone of Atlanta’s broader approach to economic stability and public health.
Kyle Waide, president and CEO of the Atlanta Community Food Bank, said the donation will help provide more than one million meals across metro Atlanta and North Georgia through the organization’s network of roughly 700 partner agencies. Those partners include faith-based organizations, community centers, and food pantries serving urban, suburban, and rural parts of the region.
Waide said the need has grown sharply in recent years. The number of people served by the food bank has increased by about 70 percent over the past three and a half years, a trend he attributed largely to inflation, rising housing costs and broader economic pressure affecting families throughout Georgia. During the holiday season, he said, that strain is compounded as children lose access to school-based meals.
While the event drew elected officials and a globally recognized entertainer, its impact was rooted in the everyday work happening inside the church and throughout southwest Atlanta. Kevin Bibbs,71, a lifelong West Atlanta resident and longtime member of Saint Peter Missionary Baptist Church, said the presence of high-profile figures matters less than the consistency of service.
Bibbs, who has been part of the church for more than six decades, helps with maintenance and day-to-day operations to ensure food distributions run smoothly. He said his role has always been about service rather than recognition, describing the work as an extension of the church’s mission to care for the community. “I came to serve,” Bibbs said.
He added that knowing families will be fed during the holidays carries special meaning in a city and state where economic gaps remain wide. “If we can help anybody, on any level, that’s a good thing,” Bibbs said.
Dickens said initiatives like Southwest Atlanta Cares reflect a model the city hopes to replicate across Georgia’s urban centers in the coming years. Sustaining and expanding food pantries into 2026, he said, will depend on continued momentum, with residents, businesses and organizations contributing funding, volunteer hours and expertise to address hunger at the neighborhood level. “People are already stepping up and asking how they can be part of the group project,” Dickens said.