Vernon Shaw serves as Manager, Donor Relationships at Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. A proud Tennessee State University alumnus, Vernon earned his Bachelor of Arts in History and performed as a member of the two-time Grammy Award–winning Aristocrat of Bands, where he played tuba.
Since joining Second Harvest in 2022, Vernon has worked in the Development department, cultivating and stewarding relationships with individual and corporate donors who help fuel our mission.
Today, Vernon shares his reflections on how Middle Tennessee showed resilience during SNAP cuts and Winter Storm Fern.
Resilience……
Throughout history, so many people have exemplified resilience. From Nelson Mandela spending 27 years in prison and then becoming South Africa’s first Black President, to the fictional story of Rocky Balboa beating Clubber Lang after losing his title to him in Rocky III. No matter where the story derives from, the impact that resilience has on others has the ability to create a sense of hope for an entire nation of people.
When I think of Resilience, I think of Fred Hampton. Born in 1948, Hampton gained prominence as the deputy chairman of the Black Panther Party in Chicago, Illinois. Simply because of his affiliation with the peaceful activist organization, Fred experienced adversity from American citizens as well as the government for fighting for the rights and necessities of Black children and people of marginalized communities. While enduring this adversity, Fred founded the Rainbow Coalition. This comprised of Young Patriots (white Southerners), Puerto Ricans, Young Lords, the American Indian Movement, among others. But one of the most prominent things that Fred Hampton cultivated was the People’s Free Food Program. This worked in congruence with the community centers and tutoring services for children that he and the rest of the BBP created. Although all of this is for the greater good, Fred Hampton had to be resilient in the fight for so many people.
Just recently, we saw how Middle Tennessee showed resilience during SNAP cuts and Winter Storm Fern. The storm caused widespread power outages, severe tree damage, and hazardous travel conditions. This put a big hindrance on so many people delivering, purchasing, and receiving food. Months before that, in the fall of 2025, the entire nation experienced a loss. Not a loss of a right, but the loss of a common necessity for over 3 million people. It was indeed a time to worry. It was a time of stress and worry for a lot of people: families, senior citizens, veterans, food pantries, and food banks. To say that this was a period for so many to face adversity was an understatement. But like I tell my soon-to-be 5-year-old, “Just because it’s scary, doesn’t mean we can’t beat it.” Tennessee is known as the Volunteer State. Not because of any one school in the state, but because of how Tennesseans show up. The community donated money, food, and their time to fill in the gap for so many people during SNAP cuts. Not to mention, during Winter Storm Fern, the community persevered and made sure that food was distributed to those who experienced power outages and/or home damage. Needless to say, the people in the Middle Tennessee community showed up for their neighbors.
Resilience is in us all. Fred Hampton was indeed a revolutionary who truly exemplified freedom, justice, and most of all, resilience. As we continue to see how the community shows up in the fight against food insecurity, we reflect on periods like the ones that we have experienced so that we may know that although the fight is scary, we can still face it, and move forward in progression.