September is Hunger Action Month – a time for communities and companies to partner together in the fight against hunger. Delta Dental of Tennessee and Farm Bureau Health Plans are joining forces again to take action and end hunger in our community during this critical time.
DELTA DENTAL OF TENNESSEE
It is estimated that 1 in 5 individuals, including 1 in 4 children, are facing hunger amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Middle Tennessee. During these unpresented times, Delta Dental is continuing its commitment to fighting hunger and improving child health – recently donating $25,000 towards five Tennessee food bank’s COVID-19 relief efforts – including Second Harvest.
Since 2013, Delta Dental has supported Second Harvest in supplying children’s toothbrushes to our BackPack program that provides easy-to-prepare food for nearly 6,000 children in food-insecure homes on weekends and sponsoring our Hunger Action Month efforts.
FARM BUREAU HEALTH PLANS
As one of our longtime, hunger-fighting partners, Farm Bureau Health Plans has donated more than $20,000 to Second Harvest just this year alone to help provide for our Middle Tennessee neighbors struggling with hunger – including joining the Tennessee Titans in packing BackPacks for children facing hunger and funding a recent Mobile Food Pantry.
On Saturday, September 19, Farm Bureau Health Plans helped distribute more than 31,000 pounds of fresh produce, dairy items, and shelf-stable food to more than 230 households – totaling more than 775 people – at The Family Center Mobile Food Pantry at Maury Hills Church in Columbia. Second Harvest Mobile Pantries are large-scale one-day distributions set up similar to a farmers’ market, where clients receive 1 to 2 weeks-worth of food.
TEAMING UP TO FIGHT HUNGER
Together Delta Dental and Farm Bureau Health Plans employees have donated nearly 650 hours volunteering at one of Second Harvest’s Distribution Centers as well as at mobile food distributions across our service area since 2018. Their efforts are feeding hope and fighting hunger for the estimated 490,000 Middle Tennesseans facing hunger during the COVID-19 pandemic.
