(Above: We partnered with the Rutherford County Sheriff's Department's SCAN (Senior Citizen Awareness Network) Program to provide food that they have been hand-delivering to vulnerable, at-risk elderly and disabled during the COVID-19 pandemic.)

What a year 2020 has been thus far. Nobody could have predicted what this year would hold, but one thing hasn't surprised Feed America First at all: our amazing community, as always, has rallied together to help make sure none of our neighbors go hungry during the COVID-19 pandemic. While this has been an incredibly difficult time for our world, nation, and local communities, here are some of the amazing moments of hope and blessings that Feed America First has been able to be a part of during this difficult season: 

• Many factors in the national food supply chain has created an excess of fresh, perishable food that Feed America First has been able to rescue. For example, during quarantine while restaurants were closed, all the fresh produce that would have been ordered by those restaurants now sat needing a place to go. Instead of being sent to the landfill, Feed America First has been able to step in. In fact, from January to September 2020, Feed America First has rescued and redistributed over 16.3 million pounds of food - that's more than we distributed in all of 2019!
• With the abundance of food, Feed America First has been able to host extra emergency relief grocery distributions, including Murfreesboro, Cookeville, Lebanon, and Mt. Juliet, feeding thousands of extra families. We heard countless stories of families who have never needed a food pantry in their lives now needing a little extra help due to losing their jobs. We're so blessed to be there for these families during their time of need. Our work isn't over - we have many more food distributions planned throughout the rest of the year.

• We partnered with the Rutherford County Sheriff's Department's SCAN (Senior Citizen Awareness Network) Program to provide the sheriffs with food to hand-deliver to at-risk, vulnerable elderly and shut-ins during quarantine. Many of our partner agencies also began making deliveries to their vulnerable neighbors in need to make sure everyone stays fed and safe!
• With a little innovation, our community was able to jump in and still host food drives for our neighbors in need with a new contactless, drive-through model. Thank you so much to World Outreach Church and The Avenue for hosting contactless food drives during the most crucial time of quarantine!

• A huge thank you goes out to all our amazing volunteers! While our volunteer events have come with some rearranging and new social distance requirements, all our volunteer efforts never skipped a beat. We have had amazing dedication and an unwavering commitment to fighting hunger from our volunteers.
• Feed America First was a recipient of a grant from the Tennessee Community CARES Program, which provided emergency assistance to Tennessee nonprofits affected by COVID-19. We were able purchase much-needed equipment for our warehouse to help us keep up with the influx of food we have been distributing. This equipment will also be able to help us for years to come. Words cannot express our gratitude to the state for this blessing! 
• A heartfelt thank you to all the individuals who contributed to our emergency relief efforts, as well as all our corporate sponsors: