Media Coverage

Drive founder wins award
October 18, 2002
By Jason B. Smith
The Augusta Chronicle Columbia County Bureau

A Columbia County woman's efforts to feed the hungry have picked up national recognition - and a $10,000 check for the Golden Harvest Food Bank.

Evelyn Browne, who organized It's Spooky to be Hungry eight years ago, is the national winner of The Dannon Company's Families Feeding America. She'll receive $10,000 for her chosen charity, Golden Harvest, plus $1,000 to spend on groceries. She plans to give the $1,000 to Golden Harvest, too. Click here to read more.

The Dannon Company Announces the Winners of the National Search for Families Feeding America™
October 22, 2002
TARRYTOWN, NY

The Dannon Company today announced that Evelyn Browne, of Evans, Georgia, and her family, are the grand prize winners in the Dannon search for Families Feeding America™ contest. The Brownes run an annual Halloween-themed food drive called "It's Spooky to Be Hungry." The Golden Harvest Food Bank will receive a donation of $10,000 from Dannon and the Brownes will receive $1,000 in free groceries.

According to the USDA's Household Food Security in the United States study, more than 33 million people in the United States - including nearly 13 million children - lived in households deemed "food insecure," hungry or at risk of hunger in 2000. America's Second Harvest, the nation's largest hunger-relief charity provided emergency food assistance to 23 million people last year - including 9 million children. Click here to read more.

Halloween food drive celebrates big success
November 1, 2002
By Donnie Fetter
The Augusta Chronicle, Columbia County Bureau

It's Spooky to be Hungry celebrated its most successful year at the official weigh-in Friday at Golden Harvest Food Bank.

The annual Halloween-themed food drive saw more than 1,200 volunteers collect 46,230 pounds of food and $24,280 for Golden Harvest.

"I'm overwhelmed at the success of this," said Evelyn Browne, the founder and organizer of It's Spooky to be Hungry. "With the economy in the shape that it's in, for people to have given so much of themselves to help their hungry neighbors is exciting and encouraging. The generosity of this community and our volunteers truly overwhelms me." Click here to read more.

A 'Spooky' reward

February 21, 2004
Editorial Staff of The Augusta Chronicle

Evelyn Browne believes that Big Changes Start Small - also the name of the charitable organization she founded in Columbia County and has headed since 1995.

For the most part Big Changes has been low-profile, drawing some public attention only at Halloween time with "It's Spooky to be Hungry" food drive.

But that was enough to grab the attention of USA Weekend magazine's Make a Difference Day Project. The Sunday publication has named the food drive one of its Top 10 honorees, awarding it $10,000. You can read more about it in the April 18 edition, carried by this newspaper.

Browne is delighted at both the financial windfall and the extra recognition. It may even save her organization. "This is incredibly wonderful for us, because we are such a bare-bones operation," she said. "We're no longer able to continue without making a little investment in our infrastructure." Click here to read more.

New leader takes helm of Spooky drive
July 29, 2006
By Donnie Fetter
The Augusta Chronicle, Columbia County Bureau

Evelyn Browne thinks her absence will prompt her brainchild to grow up.

Mrs. Browne, the founder of the It's Spooky to be Hungry food drive, recently moved to Minneapolis, where her husband, retired U.S. Army Col. Bill Browne, took a job as the program director of the Department of Internal Medicine with the University of Minnesota Medical School.

"It's my baby. I feel like I'm sending it off to college," Mrs. Browne said of the volunteer food drive she began in 1992. "While I'll miss it, it's time for it to have some new experiences and learn new things."To better handle the enormity of the drive and help compensate for her absence, Golden Harvest Food Bank will become a more active partner.

Golden Harvest Development Manager Vikki Adkins will act as this year's CSRA chapter coordinator for the drive.
The food bank will provide logistical support, such as allocating storage space for promotional materials, bookkeeping and serving as the central office for volunteer recruitment. Click here to read more

A volunteer army battles hunger with hot meals and cold cash

April 18, 2004

USA Weekend Magazine

Augusta, Ga. -- By late October, the reserves at the Calvary Baptist Church food pantry had dwindled to just a few cans of tomato sauce and cranberry sauce. "You can't make a meal on that," says pantry director Carol Brown, who relies on donations of 700 pounds of food a week to feed homeless clients.


Enter Evelyn Browne, 46, of Evans. The Army wife has spent the past three Make A Difference Days mobilizing a volunteer force to gather food and money for the hungry. Oct. 25, Browne's army of 1,600, half of them children, took to the streets in 135 neighborhoods in seven counties in Georgia and South Carolina to support her annual "It's Spooky to Be Hungry" food drive.

Each neighborhood was assigned a block captain responsible for gathering donations from each team within a mapped-out area. Then food bank trucks made the rounds to pick up the mountain of goods. Click here to read more