Meet Shelley: Atlanta Volunteer

Meet Shelley Rose, a dedicated Concrete Jungle volunteer. Shelley worked extensively with Concrete Jungle on our food delivery programs during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Shelley moved around growing up, but her family eventually came to Atlanta during her senior year of high school. After some time away pursuing her own education, she returned to make Atlanta her home and has never looked back. It was her connection to her synagogue that put her in touch with Concrete Jungle. 

In early May 2020, Shelley was looking to make a positive difference in her community when so much was unstable. She said, “Even with COVID, I had a house, I had plenty of food. I didn’t have to worry about anything. And there are a lot of people who are in a very different situation than that. So I really felt like I couldn’t just keep sitting in my house all the time. I needed and wanted to do something.”

Shelley started delivering food for families across Atlanta with a team of volunteers from her synagogue. Shelley said, “I thought that was the coolest thing to be able to provide fresh food to people who wouldn’t necessarily get it. The whole purpose of the organization is so important and really makes a difference for folks. And when we would deliver fresh food for people, they were always really appreciative of that.”

When communities needed to support one another, Shelley was there to help in. “It felt like there was something really worthwhile and needed and important,” Shelley said. “Some of the clients were really friendly – wanted to stand outside and talk. I learned a little bit about them, and they learned a little bit about me. This was something that I was able to do to help with a project that was doing something important for people and that this was a real need.”

The time spent volunteering with Concrete Jungle has left a lasting impression on her and her community. She now has transitioned to helping out with our farmers market volunteer crew, where she collects the generous donations of local farmers and transports it to food banks where it is prepared for others. She told us, “I’m more conscious and aware of the inequities around food and food distribution than I was before. I’ve picked up over 100 pounds of food one day and I was just blown away! Vendors and farmers give me buckets of tomatoes or squash or eggplant and that’s really made an impression on me.”


As we round out another fruitful year, we need your help. You – our community – are critical to CJ’s success. We rely on you to help us harvest the fruits of local trees. And we rely on you to donate the fruits of your own labor, so that we can get more produce to people who need it. 

Your donation at the end of the year will support CJ as we draw the map to the future. With your help, we will increase our capacity to meet the nutrition needs of communities experiencing food insecurity. 

Will you help us map the way to a fruitier future by making a gift to Concrete Jungle before the year is up? Please make a gift so that we can keep getting delicious, nutritious food to folks who need it:  donorbox.org/mapthefruit