Members of the Tennessee General Assembly, the Governor’s cabinet, and the Supreme Court will join the state’s constitutional officers and the Attorney General in a major effort to restock Tennessee’s food banks. The “Campaign Against Hunger” event, which is sponsored by state lawmakers in conjunction with Outeach, Inc, will take place on Friday, at 10 a.m. in the War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville.
“As we prepare to tackle public safety, education and workforce development issues, it is important to remember that hunger is a factor,” said Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris who, as chairman of the Council of State Governments last year, led national efforts to combat nutrition and food insecurity. “Food insecurity has been shown to be closely related to health problems, including an increased risk in the development of chronic diseases. It can cause impairment of psychological and cognitive functioning among children and studies show that those who are seeking employment can be negatively affected in their search for work if they, or their family, are hungry. We hope that this project is only the beginning of widespread support by the public for addressing hunger in our state, which not only positively impacts the lives of individuals, but of our state as a whole.”
The group will package approximately 50,000 meals for food banks serving all 95 Tennessee counties. Mr. Norris said the event is timely as stock in the pantries is usually low after the holiday season.
“We are grateful to our elected leaders for creating this event to bring awareness and much needed food to those in need in our community,” said Maeghan Jones, president of the Chattanooga Area Food Bank. “It is hard to believe that nearly one in six people in Tennessee does not know where their next meal is coming from, but at the Chattanooga Area Food Bank we see the reality of those statistics every day. The majority of our clients are working low-wage jobs and struggling to make ends meet for their families. They face impossible choices between heating their homes and putting food on the table and they turn for food banks to help them stretch their limited budgets. The event today will help us meet their needs by providing nutritious pre-packaged meals that they can easily prepare to feed their families.”