Families in need will have the opportunity to receive free groceries during an upcoming drive-thru food distribution at Bloomfield Recreation Center by the Girls Dig Deeper Initiative (GDDI).
The distribution will take place on Saturday, March 21, beginning at 9:00 a.m. and continuing until supplies last. Volunteers will distribute full meal bags to individuals and families experiencing food insecurity.
Each bag will include a variety of dry goods and pantry staples such as tuna, mac and cheese, dinner meals, chunk white chicken, canned sweet corn, black beans, peanut butter, spaghetti noodles, spaghetti sauce, and rice.
GDDI members will be on site helping distribute the food to families in need. This marks the organization’s second drive-thru food distribution as they continue working to address food insecurity in the community.
“Food Insecurity and lack of access to meals can significantly contribute to unsafe conditions and increase crime in neighborhoods and communities,” says GDDI Founder Najiva Timothee. “The Girls Dig Deeper Initiative aims to help children and families have access to food through food distributions.”
GDDI, through Macon Violence Prevention (MVP), has offered the Dig Deep Series for teen girls, a mentorship program for girls, money management classes, community wellness and leadership events, teen mental health & conflict resolution seminars, and more. Between 2022 and 2026, GDDI received $50,000 in grant funding from (MVP) through the Community Foundation of Central Georgia.
About Macon Violence Prevention
Macon Violence Prevention is an evidence-based, multifaceted program created to address public safety in Macon-Bibb County. Supported and funded by the consolidated government, MVP is a community-wide effort that brings together elected officials, community leaders and representatives from more than 20 agencies, organizations and departments.
“Nearly four years ago, on a blistering hot day, hundreds of us stood in Rosa Parks Square to affirm in one voice that we must work together to fight back against the plague of violent crime affecting every neighborhood in our community,” Mayor Miller said at an annual presentation of the program. “Since then, we have engaged with thousands of people in our community on what is needed and where are our resources. We heard that public safety was the most important issue people were facing…that they were tired of feeling scared. And that they were willing to help make a change.”
Since MVP’s full implementation in 2022, our community has seen significant reductions in both overall and youth homicides, outpacing the declines reported in other U.S. cities during the same period. From 2022 to 2025, Macon-Bibb cut homicides by 60%, dropping from 71 to 39. Even more striking, youth homicides (among those under 18) fell from 15 in 2022 to just 2 in 2025 — an 87% reduction in only two years.
The MVP program operates under the guidance of the MVP Strategic Plan, which was introduced in June of 2021. Created by community stakeholders and violent crime experts, this strategic plan combines data and research with community feedback to implement proven solutions that reduce violent crime and strengthen the community over time.