Thousands of meals made possible with large donation to local nonprofits

JACKSON, Tenn. — One area nonprofit is awarding grants to regional organizations to aid in hunger relief.

The Community Foundation of West Tennessee awarded two $10,000 grants to aid operations for food assistance operations Monday afternoon.

The Regional Interfaith Association here in Jackson and the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee in Camden were the recipients of the grants.

This funding will allow the organizations to pivot and purchase necessary resources for individuals and families impacted by the delay of SNAP benefits.

These are the first of several grants to be awarded over the next several weeks to area pantries in need of help.

“For every dollar we can make four meals, so this gift today will provide 40,000 meals to the nine counties of West Tennessee,” said Donna Vick, donor relations manager at Second Harvest.

Second Harvest’s nine counties in West Tennessee are Benton, Carroll, Chester, Decatur, Gibson, Hardin, Henderson, Henry and Weakley.

“Each snack backpack is about $4.78, so that is six meals and two snacks for a child on the weekend who is going home to food insecurity from Jackson-Madison County Schools. Around 1,000 kids each Friday receive a snack backpack,” said Denice Walton, director of development at RIFA.

RIFA’s soup kitchen is open 7 days a week for breakfast and lunch, and 4 days a week for dinner.

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