Christmas in July: Edward Jones Advisors Keep Our Shelves Full When Summer Runs Thin

Picture a financial advisor’s office in the middle of a Georgia July. Now add Christmas decor in the lobby, garland along the front desk, and a collection bin slowly filling up with canned green beans and boxes of cereal.

It is not a mix-up on the calendar. It is Christmas in July, and for nine years running, it has become one of the most important months of the year for our pantry.

Most food drives happen in October, November, and December. Churches collect, schools compete, neighborhoods fill barrels, and our shelves get a beautiful boost heading into the holidays.

Summer looks very different. Food drives are rare, giving slows down, and our stock can drop to some of the lowest levels we see all year.

The need does not slow down with it. When school lets out, families who counted on free breakfast and lunch are suddenly covering ten more meals a week. Utility bills climb with the temperature. For a household already stretched thin, summer is the season that breaks the budget.

That is exactly when Edward Jones shows up.

This year, eleven advisors across eight local Edward Jones offices partnered with the Real Life Center to collect 2,647 pounds of food and household essentials for families in Coweta and Fayette counties.

That is 749 pounds more than last year, an increase of roughly 39 percent, and every ounce of it landed on our shelves at the exact moment we needed it most.

Those pounds are not an abstraction. They are a mother in Tyrone who does not have to choose between the light bill and groceries. They are a grandmother in Newnan raising two grandchildren on a fixed income. They are a family in Peachtree City walking through a season they never expected.

What makes this drive such a joy is that the Edward Jones teams lean all the way in. Many of the offices decorated for the occasion, turning lobbies into a bit of December in the middle of summer.

Clients walked in for a financial review and walked out part of something bigger. Staff members brought in bags from home. The whole thing became less like a collection bin in a corner and more like a celebration with a purpose.

That spirit matters. Generosity is contagious, and joyful generosity spreads even faster.

Christmas in July started during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when Edward Jones advisors saw firsthand how many of their neighbors were struggling to put food on the table. Their response was immediate, and it sparked something that lasted. At one point, more than 20 local offices had joined the campaign.

Nine years later, they are still here. Still decorating. Still collecting. Still calling in July to ask what we need most.

Anyone can be generous once. Faithfulness is the harder thing, and it is the rarer thing. Scripture puts it plainly in Galatians 6:9: let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up.

These advisors have not grown weary. Their neighbors are reaping the harvest.

Our deepest thanks to Edward Jones Advisors Allessio, Bexley, Burgess, Cohran, Dickerson, Fulmer, Jordan, Martin, Sutherland, Trammell, and Winston for faithfully holding this food drive year after year. Thank you to their teams, their clients, and everyone who dropped off a bag.

You have carried our pantry through the hardest stretch of the calendar, and you have done it with Christmas lights on.

Summer is long, and our shelves need more than one hero. If your business, church, school, or civic group has ever wondered whether a food drive would really make a difference, the answer is 2,647 pounds of yes.

We will walk you through every step, from collection bins to a most needed items list to pick up.

Email Bongi Queen at bqueen@reallifecenter.org to schedule your food drive today, or click the "Schedule Food Drive" button below.