The fourth annual Feds Feed Families food drive has come to a close and USDA employees helped to bolster local efforts to feed those in need in a big way. USDA employees, farmers, and friends donated 2.77 million pounds of food this summer and the federal-government-wide total was 7.29 million pounds of food! This week, USDA is recognizing the great work of its employees and community partners who volunteered to make the food drive a success.
Beyond donating much-needed perishable and non-perishable foods, USDA employees showed their generosity in other ways as well. As the Rural Development state office in Nashville, Tennessee demonstrated, donations of time can be very valuable in helping an organization in your community.
Tennessee RD state office employees collected and donated 3,822 pounds of food during the drive and they also volunteer year-round to help their local food bank. This summer, employees volunteered in the freezer section of the food bank’s warehouse sorting 18,000 pounds of frozen food that was to be distributed to food bank clients.
The Tennessee RD state office partnered with Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, an agency which works with over 400 partner agencies throughout 46 counties to make sure that people in middle and west Tennessee are able to put healthy food on the table for themselves and their families. The food bank utilizes a variety of innovative programs to ensure they are reaching hungry people, with a special focus on helping hungry kids via its BackPack program, Kids Café, mobile pantry and more. USDA employees across the country partnered with community and faith-based organizations like the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee for their summer food drives.