Hunger In East Tennessee

1 in 6 East Tennesseans will go hungry tonight. In our community a staggering 200,000 people are at risk of hunger.

If you need help with food please call us at 865-521-0000 and we will refer you to the nearest food pantry.

The "working poor" make up the largest portion of the people that receive food from Second Harvest. Often, working poor families struggle week-to-week to support their families and provide food for their table. The working poor are employed but most do not receive benefits from their work, so they are left alone to pay health-care and medical expenses for their families. When gas and food prices rise, working poor families feel the pinch. This year, the number of people seeking food assistance has risen 28% in our service area!

Although the food bank is distributing more food than ever before, the enormous increase in the number of people being served has outpaced our ability to acquire food and we are faced with the reality that people seeking help are receiving smaller portions of food assistance than in the past. There are simply more people seeking food, and not enough food coming in to meet demand.

Click on the Service Area Map below for details about what we are doing in each of the 18 counties we serve.

OUR INTERACTIVE SERVICE AREA MAP IS BEING UPDATED AND IS CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE. PLEASE CHECK BACK.