Erin Yow & Julie Tarrants
Julie Tarrents, Khandra Smalley & Leanne Lannan
Sara Golden & Danielle Stack
Women in Business
Story & Photography by Tony Centonze Nancy Keil, President & CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee was Guest Speaker at the recent Women in Business luncheon at Tanglewood House. Keil talked about the pandemic’s effects on the food bank’s ongoing efforts to eradicate food insecurity. Here are a few points from her eye-opening presentation. Alexis Goines & Tish Orocio
Dr. Emily Lean & Dr. Gloria Miller
“A lot has changed for us this past year,” Keil said. “The pandemic has reversed a decades-long improvement in food insecurity numbers. There are currently more than 400,000 individuals, adults, children, seniors that are food insecure. That’s an increase of about 50% since the pandemic began. “We’re also seeing record unemployment. So many families have found themselves needing assistance. They’re having to decide between paying the rent, electric bills or medical bills, or putting food on the table to feed their family. Nobody should have to make a decision like that, in pandemic times or normal times, but it is happening in our community.”
Jennifer Gardner & Jordan Burns
Gail Fileder & Emily Medvecky
Jessica Taylor & Cheryl Dufrane
Joy Kraeske & Sharde Curry
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“The number of volunteers during this past year has dropped dramatically, donations dropped by 35%, and our entire distribution model had to be changed to make sure our staff and volunteers, and the people being served, were able to interact in a safe way. Everything had to change. So, we started home deliveries, with a small number of volunteers, then Amazon stepped in and we were able to deliver to 1,000 homes a day.”
Dr. Gloria Miller, Dr. Emily Lean, Dr. Elis Demiral, Stephanie Bilderback & Vikkie McCarthy
