A first Mahj for Meals seats 156 players in Fayetteville

Midwest Food Bank's Georgia division has found a new way to fill its warehouse: a room full of racks. Its inaugural Mahj for Meals fundraiser brought 156 Mahjong players together for a friendly day of American Mahjong social play, according to a report in The Citizen published August 31, 2026. The paper says the day was planned in collaboration with the Fayette Mahj Social Club, and that the partnership was what made a first time Mahjong fundraiser work.

The date was August 21, which The Citizen had listed in a July 20 article on the food bank's fundraising calendar. Per the August 31 report, the players donated 1,617 pounds of food, and the money they raised allowed Midwest Food Bank to rescue and distribute $385,000 of food.

A Joker Sponsor and a Bird Bam Sponsor

The report names Cooper Lighting Solutions as the top sponsor, billed as the Joker Sponsor, and Watlington and Buckles, Inc. as the Bird Bam Sponsor. The paper also thanks Yerkey Creative for a custom Mahjong table and Emerson Graham Designs for a one of a kind Peachtree City themed tile and mat, donations it says made the raffle richer. Southern Light Creative provided the photographs, and volunteers represented the food bank on the day. Order of the Tile is not affiliated with any sponsor or maker named here and does not sell sets.

Lina Martin, the food bank's project coordinator, told The Citizen that partnering with nonprofits is a blessing in the fight against food insecurity, and that pairing Mahjong with a meaningful purpose made for a high energy day. She said the team is already looking ahead.

“excited to start planning another fabulous Mahj for Meals next year”Lina Martin, project coordinator, Midwest Food Bank, to The Citizen

The room on Glynn Street

The Citizen credits Rashad and Patrice Armstrong, owners of The Venue at 240 Glynn Street and The Hummingbird Wine Bar and Market, with much of the day's success, for their generosity, flexibility and hospitality, and says their venue gave the event an elegant setting.

The building has a history of its own. A Citizen Business of the Week profile published August 20 reports that the Armstrongs took ownership on July 6, and that The Venue sits inside the former Fayetteville City Hall, which was a school before that. Per the profile, the room seats 150, or up to 220 for a reception. Among the things the owners hoped to bring to it, the profile lists live music, art, comedy, chess and Mahjong. "We're all about partnering together and doing things collaboratively," Rashad Armstrong told the paper.

What the money feeds

Midwest Food Bank was founded in 2003 on the Kieser family farm in McLean County, Illinois, and is a faith based nonprofit whose partner agencies receive food at no cost, according to a May 28 article in The Citizen. The same piece says every dollar donated provides $30 worth of food.

The July 20 article reports that the Georgia division opened in 2011 and has grown from nine nonprofit partners to more than 268, and that in 2025 it distributed more than $38 million in food to those partners at no cost. Its own Georgia page gives its address as 220 Parkade Court in Peachtree City and describes the work: food goes free of charge to pantries, shelters and community kitchens, registered nonprofits pick it up in scheduled windows, and volunteers load and pack the trucks.

How to take part

No date has been announced for the next Mahj for Meals in the sources we read. Until then, the food bank's Georgia page invites volunteers, from individuals and families to school, church and corporate groups, and takes donations online. The July 20 article listed two more events on its calendar: the Harvest of Blessings Gala on Thursday, October 1, and a 15th anniversary celebration on Friday, October 23.

Prim's view

A Joker Sponsor and a Bird Bam Sponsor. I have read that line a dozen times and it still makes me smile, because nobody names a sponsor level after a Bird Bam unless somebody on the committee plays.

What moves me more is the arithmetic of a day like this. One hundred fifty six people did what they would have happily done anyway, which is sit down with friends and play, and a warehouse in Peachtree City came away with 1,617 pounds of food. Mahjong tables have always been where neighbors find out who needs a casserole. Here the casserole got organized.

I will be watching for the date of the second one, and I suspect the Fayette Mahj Social Club will be first through the door.