Imagine not knowing where your next meal is coming from or when you will be able to eat again. This terrible situation is called food insecurity, and it affects many within our own community.

It’s estimated, according to Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, that 1 in 7 children are hungry. Feed Sumner Food Bank and Ministry (FSFBM) is actively trying to change this statistic by providing food distribution to over 500 Sumner County families every month.

Feed Sumner Food Bank and Ministry is a partner of Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, and they started through First Baptist Church Hendersonville in April 2022. Director Daniel Stephens says First Baptist may be the originator, but this ministry involves people from all over Sumner County. “It’s really a ministry of the entire community. We truly are better together, and we can make more of an impact together.” 

Numerous Sumner County churches, organizations, students, and citizens unite to be the wheels that move the program. “It would not exist if it wasn’t for our volunteers,” says Daniel. Other than a second staff person, Director of Volunteer Services, Alex York, FSFBM is completely volunteer driven. 

Every second Saturday of the month from 8-11 AM, high school students, college students, those wanting community service hours, and local church members gather at the 1121 Gregory Drive address in Gallatin to give food to the hungry.

Second Saturdays aren’t the only days the hungry are served meals. Feed Sumner Food Bank and Ministry helped with Street Feed, an event hosted by Gallatin’s Shalom Zone this past summer. They are also gearing up for a “Season of Blessing” this November and December. Last year’s Thanksgiving Blessing event resulted in over 1,200 meals being distributed. This year as the Blessing extends another month, it’s projected that number could double. 

Project 7 is the newest program of Feed Sumner Food Bank and Ministry and provides grab and go meals throughout the week for families whose children would otherwise go hungry.

Food is what Daniel calls “the connecting point with the families and the children.” From there Feed Sumner Food Bank and Ministry identifies how they can assist those families with other needs as well. 

One elderly woman receiving a meal through their At Home delivery program confessed how she felt trapped in her home because her car was broken down and was parked for six months, waiting for the funds to be repaired. A FSFBM volunteer quickly connected her with a couple different mechanics—one providing the labor and the other providing the parts. A week later she was able to drive her car off its resting place. Food became an avenue to freedom.

Above all, Daniel says, “It’s a pathway. Everybody needs food. Ultimately, we want our guests to connect with the body of Christ. It doesn’t happen overnight, and it is really important to meet people where they’re at.”

Meeting people where they are at means being in this hunger fight for the long haul. It means digging into the trenches of hunger and beyond, one meal at a time. Let’s join Feed Sumner Food Bank and Ministry in the battle. 

We can’t all do everything, but we can each do one thing. For more information, please check out their website www.feedsumner.org.