Newspaper Article (food bank)

Dear Sir:

While we can all agree that there is governmental waste and parts of the government have grown too big, there are also parts of it that serve an important function in our society. One of those functions is to help people in need.

According to a study conducted by Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee in 2023, almost 17% of Greene County residents suffer from food insecurities compared to 13% nationally. Food insecurity means that a person or family does not have access to enough food to meet their daily needs, or they don’t know where their next meal will be coming from.

This is not the time for the United States Department of Agriculture to be cancelling the $722 million that they contribute to the Emergency Food Assistance Program. Manypeople in our community depend on the free food that Second Harvest distributes monthly throughout our county. We are a nation that has always prided itself in helping those people who are underserved and less fortunate than others. This program should continue to be funded. No one in America should go to bed hungry.

Mary Goldman Greeneville