Hosting Mobile Pantry on the 25th celebrates September as Hunger Awareness Month
SALT knows how difficult every month is for those who don't know if there will still be any food in the cabinet by the end of the month. We're hosting a special event this September to take some of that worry from our neighbors.
SALT Ministry is hosting a Mobile Food Pantry on Sept 25, 2020 at Leeville United Methodist Church, 7019 Hickory Ridge Road. Registration will begin at 8:30 at Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, 7463 Hickory Ridge Road. Food distribution will begin at 9:00 and continue until food runs out.
USDA food will be distributed to those who qualify. To qualify we'll need to know your monthly income. You may also qualify if you receive SSI payments, SNAP benefits, Families First benefits, Low-income Home Energy Assistance, or reside in Public Housing. You'll need proof that you receive any of the benefits listed.
If you do not quality for USDA food, we will still provide you a food box of other food items.
Our volunteers will load the food in your trunk to limit contact. We'll be wearing masks and ask that you do also. Please make sure that you've emptied your trunk of all unnecessary items so we can more easily load it with food.
Some facts about hunger that you may not know:
Hunger Among Our Elders is a real problem in not just Wilson County but in our entire country. About 7.7 percent of seniors in the United States - about 4.9 million older Americans - don't have enough nutritious food. That is more than double the number who were food insecure in 2001.
Another 3.7 million seniors are marginally food insecure. They don't always have enough healthy food. Estimates are that 1 in 5 senior Tennesseans are food insecure.
These numbers are before the Coronavirus Pandemic!
Many seniors routinely choose between buying food and buying prescribed medicine or paying rent or utilities. Seniors who lack nutritious food are 60 percent more likely to have congestive heart failure and three times more likely to suffer from depression.
Wilson County seniors in rural areas and inner cities are most likely to suffer from hunger. In Wilson County, over 2200 seniors live at or near the poverty level. Thirteen hundred seniors age 60 and above receive SNAP benefits. The benefits for many of them are less than $20 per month.
Older women are at greater risk than men because their lifetime earnings are often lower after years out of the workforce caring for children.
However, men and women of all races and walks of life can find themselves hungry and vulnerable as they age and their resources diminish because of health challenges or other reasons.
