Our Signature Service Project: Feed the Need

The Rotary Club of Nashville’s annual outreach project, Feed the Need, provides boxes of food to Nashville’s hungry in December. Rotarians and their families participate in this initiative, which spans almost the entire month. In addition to providing volunteer hours to cover all operations of this project, we also fund it through a partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank.

December 2016 brought the opportunity to increase recipients from 1,200 to 1,600. Each recipient receives two boxes of food, one containing pantry items, the other with fresh produce. Our members assembled 3,200 boxes, sorted thousands of pounds of food, packed the boxes, and finally, delivered the boxes on a cold, rainy Saturday before Christmas.

While delivering boxes, volunteers meet the recipients, strike up conversations, and return the following year to cover the same territory, visiting those they previously met. We learn the importance of giving back to our community, and connect with the person on the other side of the box.