Statements
Mission
Our mission is to provide food to people facing hunger and work to advance hunger solutions.
Background
Second Harvest was founded in 1978 by a group of local people concerned about hungry neighbors. After visiting St. Mary's Food Bank in Phoenix (the first food bank in the United States ) to better understand that distribution model, the Nashville group established Tennessee's first regional food bank. We now serve 37 Counties in Middle Tennessee, plus nine counties in West Tennessee. Today, Second Harvest Food Bank operates out of three distribution centers--in Camden, Smyrna, and Nashville. All food distributed is either purchased in bulk via our Project Preserve program, donated through food drives, or rescued from a network of 280 grocery retailers and various local farms.
We distribute this food in partnership with 450 partner agencies, such as soup kitchens, food pantries, senior centers, and after-school programs. Second Harvest operates several programs that directly serve specific populations like our Children's Feeding Program, Senior Feeding Program, and Emergency Food Box Program. According to Feeding America, in 2020, there were 353,160 food-insecure individuals in our service area (one in eight), and 98,370 of those were children (one in seven).
Second Harvest exists to make sure no one goes without food during a time of need. We leverage our community partnerships, logistics infrastructure, thousands of volunteers, and economies of scale to create a network that lifts communities up with better health, less childhood trauma, improved grades, and more productive lives.
Impact
In the fiscal year ended June 2022, Second Harvest distributed food for 34.7 million meals. Further impact was as follows:
1. The purpose of Second Harvest is to provide a central distribution center for companies, groups, and individuals who wish to help provide food for hungry people in Middle Tennessee. Our mission is to provide food to people facing hunger and work to advance hunger solutions. We are at a critical stage in our growth. We are a non-profit that safely stores millions of pounds of food that will soon be delivered to local food programs, like a food pantry. Massive quantities of food get dumped into landfills, yet one in eight Middle Tennesseans is at risk of hunger. This is partially a logistics problem. Thanks to our donors and volunteers, Second Harvest has the space and manpower to manage large shipments, break them into smaller units, and send them at the right time and in the right quantity to our network of Partner Agencies across 46 counties.
We also raise funds and write grants to buy food at bulk prices, fund feeding programs, and cover operation costs. Storing and delivering food safely is a complex undertaking, requiring warehouse space, refrigerated trucks, fuel, wages for drivers, and so much more. We distribute food to Partner Agencies including afterschool programs, soup kitchens, senior centers, and other nonprofits that provide food to hungry people. Each agency has unique needs. We send them as much food as they can safely store and the right types of foods to keep their clients healthy and happy.
2. Prior to the pandemic, food insecurity rates were trending down. In fact, between 2015 and 2019, there was a 12.8% decrease in food insecurity in our service area. Due to the pandemic and economic conditions, food demand has increased across our 46-county service area. Pounds of food distributed has stayed significantly higher than prior to these unprecedented times:
• FY2019: 35 million pounds of food
• FY2020: 41 million pounds of food
• FY2021: 48.5 million pounds of food
• FY2022: 41.7 million pounds of food
The trend in pounds of food distributed reflects the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic fallout that caused significant hardship across our service area. In March and April 2020, nearly 380 thousand jobs were lost in two months. The loss of jobs correlates with the high demand for the food we experienced in FY2021. In October 2021 there are still 54,500 fewer workers on Tennessee payrolls than there were before the pandemic (February 2020).
According to Tennessee's Economic Outlook Report to the Governor (January 2022), the Tennessee economy continues to recover from the dramatic economic shock brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, supply chain issues, COVID-19 variants, and inflationary pressures have slowed the economic recovery to some extent. This helps explain why the pounds of food distributed in FY2022 remained significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels.
3. Unique to our Food Bank is our social enterprise called Project Preserve. This entrepreneurial program provides shelf-stable food locally and nationally. Revenue from this program helps support the general operating expenses of Second Harvest, improving the sustainability of our programs. Project Preserve's top-quality products and low prices support high-impact feeding programs at 450 Partner Agencies in our 46-county service area and at 160+ food banks across the country. As the COVID-19 pandemic strained supply chains nationally, limiting the availability of shelf-stable foods and spiking costs, Project Preserve was endorsed by Feeding America for its network of 200 food banks, of which we are a founding member, as a superior vendor/supplier for their needs.
Needs
To meet the high current demand for food assistance, Second Harvest has increased need for
1. Funds to purchase the additional food needed--a need that goes way beyond the amount of donated food available.
2. Donated food that helps fill some of the gap.
3. Volunteers who are able to sort food in a mode that accommodates social distancing.
CEO Statement
Now in our 44th year, the mission of Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee remains the same: Our mission is to provide food to people facing hunger and work to advance hunger solutions. We are at a critical stage in our growth. With more than one million Tennesseans at risk of hunger every day, we all must do more to make sure food is available for the children, families, and seniors who need it most. Second Harvest is consistently working beyond our capacity to rescue and deliver food to hungry people, but it's not enough. In the last twelve years, we have more than tripled our food distribution to those who are in need. To meet growing demand and reach the under-served, we project that this number will more than double over the next ten years. With even more food to be rescued and many families continuing to struggle with hunger, due to rising costs of living and chronic unemployment, we face an urgent problem. Food is left on the community's table that could go to feed the hungry.
We worked quickly to optimize our footprint with the newly renovated and expanded Nashville distribution center and our two new facilities in Rutherford and Benton County. This allows us to rescue, sort and deliver more food as we increase volunteer involvement in our three locations. While these efforts are crucial to the growth of the food bank, my primary focus remains on maintaining the safety and quality of every pound of food we distribute. To do this, we will continue to work with the USDA, Feeding America, and the Health Department to maintain our high standard for food safety as our food output continues to rapidly increase.
As we move forward, Second Harvest requires the continued support of Middle and West Tennesseans. Whether that comes via donation of food, volunteer time spent sorting and inspecting food in our distribution center, or giving funds to our programs where every $1 provides 4 meals to those in need, we need your help. To learn more about how you can get involved visit http://secondharvestmidtn.org/. Thank you for fighting hunger and feeding hope!
Nancy Keil
President & CEO
Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee
Board Chair Statement
The work donors and volunteers accomplish in our community through Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee is unparalleled among Tennessee nonprofits. By rescuing, sorting, purchasing and delivering nutritious food, we meet a critical need to feed hungry people. Since March 2020, the pandemic has challenged this organization to adapt to an ever-changing environment - from difficulties sorting product to safely distributing food to the children, families, seniors, homeless, and individuals in need. At the peak of the pandemic, we were facing a 40-50% increase in need.
Despite providing more food than ever, more and more families, children and seniors depend on Second Harvest to get through to better times. With over 380,000 people projected as food-insecure in 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we must continue to build capacity to serve our neighbors who find themselves in a time of need. We are grateful that in 2015, Second Harvest launched a Capital Campaign to increase capacity at the main Nashville facility and build additional distribution centers in Rutherford and Benton Counties from which to better serve the entire region. Last year we distributed 48.5 million pounds of food.
Second Harvest has access to an ever-expanding supply of rescued groceries from 280 grocery retailers. These rescued groceries are an essential source of nutrition, including produce, protein-rich dairy and meat products, and other fresh foods. This effort puts more healthy nutrition on otherwise empty plates by adding trucks and equipment and locating distribution points nearer the sources of available food and the people in need. We focus on providing healthier, fresher options for our clients with 11,552,514 pounds of fresh produce distributed last year.
We have much work to do in the coming year to maximize our capacity and close the meal gap. To keep vulnerable people fed, we need committed support from the community. I am honored to serve alongside Nancy Keil, President and CEO and a dedicated Board of Directors to ensure we can work towards Second Harvest's mission to provide food to people facing hunger and work to advance hunger solutions. For more information, or to learn more about how you can get involved, contact Second Harvest at 615-329-3491 or visit http://secondharvestmidtn.org/.
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Food, Agriculture & Nutrition - Food Banks, Food Pantries |
| Secondary Category: | Food, Agriculture & Nutrition - Food Programs |
| Tertiary Category: | - |
Areas Served
Second Harvest serves all of Middle Tennessee and portions of West Tennessee. In addition to the counties listed above, Second Harvest serves Benton, Carroll, Chester, Decatur, Gibson, Hardin, Henderson, Henry, Lincoln, and Weakley counties.
| TN - Bedford |
| TN - Cannon |
| TN - Cheatham |
| TN - Clay |
| TN - Coffee |
| TN - Davidson |
| TN - DeKalb |
| TN - Dickson |
| TN - Franklin |
| TN - Giles |
| TN - Hickman |
| TN - Houston |
| TN - Humphreys |
| TN - Jackson |
| TN - Lawrence |
| TN - Lewis |
| TN - Macon |
| TN - Marshall |
| TN - Maury |
| TN - Montgomery |
| TN - Moore |
| TN - Overton |
| TN - Perry |
| TN - Pickett |
| TN - Putnam |
| TN - Robertson |
| TN - Rutherford |
| TN - Smith |
| TN - Stewart |
| TN - Sumner |
| TN - Trousdale |
| TN - Warren |
| TN - White |
| TN - Williamson |
| TN - Wilson |
| TN - Wayne |
