A local service agency that already does so much with so little to help feed members of the community will soon be able to do even more by increasing their ability to offer fresh produce to families.
Assistance Resource Ministries recently received a large gift from Second Harvest Food Bank in the form of a new walk-in cooler. According to ARM Executive Director Nikki Jones, the cooler will help the agency provide fresh produce to more of the families it serves.
“We have fresh produce, but we can’t keep it fresh,” Jones said. “We have no where to store it so we have to hand it out as quickly as we get it.”
Prior to receiving the new walk-in cooler, ARM’s only means of cool storage was two residential size refrigerators, which provided them with very limited storage, Jones said.
“We have to keep the produce inside and we have to heat the building, so that heats the produce, which makes it rot faster,” she said.
Because of the storage issue, when ARM received fresh produce donations they would have to hand the food out quickly to whichever clients came by within a short time frame.
“This will help us to share the produce with even more families,” Jones said. “It enables us to expand the longevity of our fresh produce so we can spread it out more.”
The new cooler has been installed and ARM is now just waiting on a ramp to be completed that will allow the food to be moved into and out of the cooler, which Jones said will accommodate three pallets of fresh produce.
Receiving the donation from Second Harvest has been a blessing for ARM, Jones said.
“We are swamped this time of year,” she said. “It couldn’t have come at a better time.”
During the month of November, Jones said ARM provided assistance to 1,031 families residing in Carter County. To receive assistance from the agency, families must qualify based on their income.
“It accommodates those who are trying to work, but just can’t quite make ends meet,” she said. “We help them in meeting their needs and making those ends meet.”
Kathy Smith, community relations director for Second Harvest, said the food bank was pleased to be able to help ARM with such a large project. The cost of purchasing the cooler and having it installed was $12,000, Smith said.
Money for the project came from a grant Second Harvest received through the Walmart Foundation to help fund infrastructure to secure and distribute more nutritious food to families in need.
“These grant funds are for our food bank agencies so they can better handle the perishable goods,” Smith said.
Second Harvest Food Bank serves the eight counties of the Northeast Tennessee region, including Carter County. As part of their program, Second Harvest provides food — both perishable and non-perishable items — to community service agencies like ARM to distribute in the individual communities served by the larger agency.
For many of the community agencies, storage of perishable goods can become an issue and Second Harvest hopes the funding from this grant will help those agencies. In addition to the walk-in cooler for ARM, the grant also purchased two refrigerators for a food bank in the Little Milligan community, one refrigerator for Hale’s Community Ministries in Johnson County and one refrigerator for the food bank at Unicoi County Church of God. Also, the grant purchased 10 “insulated blankets” that can help local agencies keep food at the proper temperature while it is in transport and 10 digital scales which will allow individual agencies to pick up donated food directly from local grocers and retailers.
Since 2009, the Walmart Foundation has invested in more than 170 refrigerated vehicles so that Feeding America member food banks, like Second Harvest, and their partner agencies can get more food to people struggling with hunger. This year, the Walmart Foundation expanded the scope of their grant program to include a broader variety of equipment to meet the needs of more food banks and agencies.
“The Walmart Foundation has been a tremendous partner in helping us design strategies that help us serve more people with nutritious food,” said Rhonda Chafin, executive director of Second Harvest Food Bank. “This grant will go a long way in helping Second Harvest expand our capacity to serve the children and families in Northeast Tennessee.”