Second Harvest of East TN seeks volunteers to fight growing food insecurity

MARYVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee is raising awareness about food insecurity in our region and how the community can help. As they participate in Hunger Action Month, Second Harvest of East Tennessee is in need of the community’s help themselves.

“We usually have about 934 volunteers monthly, and last month we only had 679 volunteers —Still a lot of people, and we’re grateful to the community, but it really does impact our whole operation when the volunteer hours are down,” said executive director Elaine Streno.

According to Streno, over their last fiscal year, food insecurity grew 26% in East Tennessee.

“It’s huge in every way because the demand being up, food prices, we’ve all been impacted by that because of course, people can’t afford to buy food, and then we’re buying more food, and then our donations are down. So, you know, it’s a major impact,” she said.

Streno said the increase in demand and food prices is an issue Feeding America is seeing nationwide. But between that and their low donation and volunteer turnout, they need help from the community.

“Packing food saves us money and they are so great to contribute. So, we’re kind of appealing — let the community know we’re here from Tuesday to Saturday, volunteers can go online and sign up, and we really would love some people to come out and help us,” she said.

Right now, Streno said they serve nearly 200,000 people in East Tennessee who are at risk of food insecurity.

“We serve 18 counties. We have six different feeding programs, so the volunteers have an outstanding impact in a positive way on what we do,” she said.

To continue to serve those in need, she says they need all hands-on deck, so they can spend Hunger Action Month feeding our community.

“Because we are local, we depend on this community for our funding, and so we’re just appealing for volunteers and monetary donations too.”

To find out how to volunteer or donate, you can visit their website here.

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