Statements

Mission

To Serve, To Connect, To Sustain. Urban Bicycle Food Ministry Nashville is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization created to serve people affected by homelessness and poverty. This organization believes that small concrete acts of kindness are the fundamentals that bring light and love to a community. All it requires is a bicycle, backpack, and a giving spirit.

Background

UBFM began in Memphis when Rev Dr. Tommy Clark was in seminary school. He was inspired to serve those affected by homelessness and as an avid cyclist began riding his bicycle around downtown Memphis distributing food and clothing items to those living on the streets. It began with a few friends cooking burritos in Tommy's small kitchen and grew into a large nonprofit in Memphis with hundreds of volunteers. After moving to Nashville, Tommy realized there was just as much need in Davidson County and found a small group of friends to do it all again. We now have an incredible group of volunteers - high school students, graduate school students, military veterans, entire families, and multiple religious denominations - who all share a passion for helping others and alleviating suffering on the streets of Nashville.

Impact

UBFM Nashville has had an exciting year! We became an official 501(c)(3) nonprofit in December of 2019 and in just a year have quadrupled our volunteer base, doubled the nights we serve, and doubled the number of meals we serve each night. It has been inspiring to see this idea take off! With that said, we have ambitious goals for 2021 including a more intentional approach to fundraising, community outreach, and partnerships with other civic organizations with shared missions.

Needs

While our growth has been inspiring and allowed us to serve two nights a week and more than double our initial meal count, that costs money. Our biggest need is financial to make sure we can continue serving those in need. Our annual costs are roughly $6,000, but any donation helps and would allow us to purchase additional items like socks, coats, and blankets in addition to our standard costs for food and water.

We are also always looking for more volunteers and would be excited to have anyone interested join us for a ride and see the impact we make in person!

CEO Statement

It is humbling to see my idea for serving others via bicycle in Memphis grow into multiple nonprofits that now serve in cities in CO, IA, IL, TN and TX. However, UBFM Nashville is very much in its infancy compared to other UBFM's across the country and could benefit from your support - whether that is in time, money, or publicity. We connect with those we serve in such a personal way because we seek them out on our bicycles instead of requiring them to come to us. We invite them into conversation and as a result of interacting twice a week for months at a time, have developed meaningful relationships. Please consider joining us on a ride and seeing for yourself the scope of what we do with UBFM Nashville.

Service Categories
Primary Category:	Human Services  - Homeless Services/Centers
Secondary Category:	Food, Agriculture & Nutrition  - Food Programs
Tertiary Category:	-

Areas Served

Nashville, TN

TN - Davidson