Governor Lee, First Lady join food distribution in Hardeman Co.

HARDEMAN COUNTY, Tenn. — Feeding the community, one box at a time. The Health, Hunger, and Hope Network Organization at First Baptist Church of Middleton is doing just that.

The volunteer organization partnered with the Mid-South Food Bank, along with Governor Bill Lee and First Lady Maria Lee to distribute 509 boxes Friday.

Organization member Ann Baxter says they distribute around 1,300 boxes during their regular events. And each box contains breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

“Three breakfast meals, four supper meals, and four lunches in the box,” Baxter said.

The Governor and First Lady came to help distribute boxes and show their support to the organization.

First Lady Maria Lee says events like these are one step closer to ending the fight against hunger.

“One in eight Tennesseans face hunger, and one in six of them are children,” Lee said. “I would love to see that number fall, if not completely disappear.”

Director of Agency Partners and Programs for Mid-South Food Bank, Louis Vick, says they partner with several organizations in 30 different counties across Tennessee.

Vick says their goal is to make sure families don’t have to worry about food.

“There is no reason why in this great country that we have, that anyone should be making a decision between paying rent, getting gas, and having to think about if they are going to be able to buy food or not,” Vick said.

The church pastor, Samuel Cox, says being able to provide for his community in this way is a gift.

“We are in one of the lower economic counties, and this has just been such a blessing to have the opportunity to serve our community and our county through this way,” Pastor Cox said.

The Health, Hunger, and Hope Organization have food box distributions each week in Hardeman County.