SULLIVAN COUNTY, Tenn. — Northeast Tennessee’s Second Harvest Food Bank, which supplies pantries across a region that includes Bristol, marked four decades of work in Sullivan County on Wednesday by gathering its staff with local and state leaders.
The milestone was framed less as a victory lap than as a reminder of how much is left to do. Chief executive Rhonda Chafin told the crowd that hunger in the region has not gone down in 40 years. In her telling, both the poverty rate and the share of families without reliable access to food have climbed, which means seniors, the working poor and children who depend on weekend backpack and summer meal programs still need help.
Denis McDonough, who leads the national Feeding America network, joined a roundtable with partner agencies during the visit. He said one county in the service area has roughly 30 percent of its residents struggling to get enough to eat, compared with about one in seven people nationwide. He pointed to steep costs for groceries, rent, health care and transportation, adding that rent eats first in many households.
The food bank now moves about 15 million pounds a year, and Chafin said it is buying and sourcing more food than at any point in its history.
Founded in 1986, Second Harvest serves eight counties: Sullivan, Washington, Carter, Greene, Hancock, Hawkins, Johnson and Unicoi. The organization describes its goal as getting food to hungry neighbors and pulling the wider community into the fight against hunger. In September, the food bank announced a $310,000 gift from Publix Charities to support its programs, buildings and partner agencies.
Chafin said residents can help by volunteering their time, by giving money, and, for businesses in the food industry, by donating surplus food rather than throwing it away.
