Ryan is the Regional Purchasing Manager for Ferguson Enterprises and loves to support Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee with his team. Ryan started partnering with Second Harvest in 2015 through Feed the Need and Bite Hunger, two different large-scale volunteer and food drive opportunities that we host. Ever since his first food drive, Ryan has seen how the power of ONE action can multiply. He felt that he couldn’t donate enough food to make a large impact, so he asked his coworkers to donate alongside him. He remembers, “We got a Second Harvest box and I set it out in my office. I was hoping we could fill up the box in a couple of weeks. At the end of the week, the box was overflowing, and it was well over 500 pounds of food.” Ryan saw that when we work together, we can truly make a difference.

This revelation of working together is what inspired Ryan to continue the fight against Hunger with his friends, family, and coworkers. He says, “Our communities are stronger when we work together. I knew if we could get more people involved we could have such a larger impact on people’s lives here in Tennessee.”

“Come down to Second Harvest and try it.”

To Ryan, volunteering at Second Harvest is more than just giving back – it’s fun. Ryan often uses his time volunteering as a time to connect with friends and coworkers and makes an entire day of it. He says, “We sing together, we sort food, and we socialize. At the end of a shift, you see the gigantic impact you’ve made. You hear you’ve sorted 4,500 pounds of food in the last few hours, and you know that food is going to feed people in the next few days. It’s special.” For Ryan, Second Harvest is the place to support a community and build one.