Second Harvest hosts listening session for its service region

KINGSPORT, Tenn. (WJHL) – Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee held a listening session for its eight-county service region on Thursday.

These listening sessions are part of the Meet Neighbors Empowerment Advocacy Training grant provided by Feeding America.

Second Harvest Advocacy Manager Cecile Wimberly said that the goal is to gauge the programs that are being utilized throughout the region.

“This is one of those resources we’ve just not had in the community to go out and really listen to our neighbors and bring them in for an event like this,” Wimberly said. “Being able to have something like this through Feeding America has really been impactful to really let us identify neighbors and hopefully collect stories that we can use to advocate on their behalf.”

Some of the conversations during the listening session involved SNAP benefits, school lunches and various federal programs.

“It gives us the ability to lift up their experiences whether it be trying to receive the benefits or maybe it’s how they’re implementing those benefits in their family,” Wimberly said.

Wimberly said that this grant from Feeding America is going to allow Second Harvest to continue to build relationships with the community and lift their experiences.

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