“Grandma, I’m hungry,” the little five-year-old girl said to her grandma. “Honey,” her grandma said back to her. “We are about out of food, but we will make it some way ’til Monday and get help with food from the Union County Food Pantry. You see, grandma and her husband, called Grandpa, were raising three grandchildren, the children of their daughter who left her kids with Grandma and Grandpa three years ago due to her being a heavy drug user. Her whereabouts are unknown and they don’t know if she is still alive.

Grandpa had been injured years ago on a low-paying job and let go with a small pittance. After three years he had been able to get Social Security disability and later grandma started drawing Social Security from her husband’s work. Both combined wasn’t enough to make ends meet with having to raise three children five to nine years old.

With the cost of property taxes and insurance increasing the last three years and inflation, they had to acquire food from the food pantry.

Grandpa raised a small garden and would crawl on his bottom through the rows to weed and later help pick the garden’s bounty. The garden helped, but how much longer could grandpa work a garden. The oldest child was a boy of nine and Grandpa hoped within three years the boy could be a lot of help.

He and Grandma prayed that the boy would not get on drugs like his mother had done. Grandma and Grandpa did not know who the fathers of the children were and their mother probably did not know due to her heavy drug usage. Let’s all hope that today’s young children will not become addicts like the previous generation has done.

Today a school bus driver knows more about the K-12 kids than their parents. The driver knows who the good kids are, who the bad kids are, knows the kids that want attention because they don’t get it at home, they know who the troublemakers are and who the brightest kids on the bus are, and also, the kids that don’t have food on the weekends at home. Most schools in East Tennessee send food bags home on Fridays with these kids.

There are lots of reasons why people may need food assistance. Sometimes things happens such as losing a decent job, accidents, mental problems, illnesses, drug or alcohol abuse.

But the children didn’t cause any of these things to happen. Children need to be cared for and properly guided through their young years, and they need balanced meals to help their bodies grow, become strong, have resistance to diseases and help in building their minds.

Another short story I’ll tell is about an eight-year-old girl the kids on the bus called “Dog.” Her family as such lived in a ramshackle trailer about six miles north of Maynardville. There was no water in this trailer and “Dog” had to sleep on the floor even in the wintertime. She would sleep with two or three dogs who came in and out whenever they pleased. The dogs helped keep her warm at night. This child smelled like the dogs she slept on the floor with.

A next-door neighbor allowed her to take a bath once a week in their house. This happened only 10 years ago in Union County. I think of her often and pray that she made it through high school and didn’t get trapped by drugs or pregnancy during her teen years. I can guess that her family used the food pantries and this helped the young girl and the other young children who played naked in the yard.

Those two examples of families that have needed food for the children are only a miniscule sample of those that either have not planned for or are suddenly forced into accepting young children or unfortunate family members into their homes where there is not enough income to sustain the increased household.

Thank God for help offered by food pantries, church and fraternal organizations support, and the volunteers who donate their time and energy to unload trucks, properly stock and store the food, assemble and pack food boxes for distribution to the needy, and clean and sterilize the food pantry buildings. Without the volunteers there would not be any food pantries.

We also need to acknowledge and praise the Second Harvest organization and all of their personnel. Almost all food pantries of East Tennessee obtain food and supplies from this organization. Another food donor is Food City and their personnel who donate many food items and supplies. Without the help from Second Harvest and Food City the food pantries would suffer.

We also thank the fraternal organizations and donors who support our food pantries. We also thank the school systems in East Tennessee for their help in feeding needy children on weekends through their programs. Last to thank is Enrichment Credit Union in Halls Crossroads for their help and information.

It’s a shame that in the USA today, with all our agricultural production capacity, this problem of starvation of our youngest and oldest persists. Maybe in the future it will be eradicated.

Here is a list of some food pantries:

Union County Food Pantry
553 Fall Creek, Maynardville, TN 37807 ‒ 865-992-4335
Kitty Lewis, Director
Open 2nd and 4th Mondays from 2 to 5 p.m.
Needs men to unload trucks

Christ United Methodist Church (in Halls)
7535 Maynardville Pike, Knoxville, TN 37938 ‒ 865-922-1412, 865-719-4277
Jayne Hunley, Coordinator; Mark Kilbourne, Pastor
Food Distribution first Thursday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
3rd Wednesday 10 a.m. to noon
Must fill out form required by Second Harvest in case of food recall

Fellowship Christian Church
746 Tazewell Pike, Luttrell, TN 37779 ‒ 865-258-8144
Johnny Smith, Pastor
Food distribution: 1st Thursday from 10 a.m. until people are gone.
Pre-packaged food packs. This month it will be held on July 1st due to Independence Day.

Beneath the Cross Mission Center
3244 Hwy 61E, Luttrell, TN 37779 ‒ 865-661-0175
Provides hot meals from Love Kitchen
2nd and 4th Friday of month from 4 to 6 p.m. or until meals run out
Clothes closet 2nd and 4th Tuesday from 2 to 5 p.m.

Hines Creek Baptist Church
892 Hines Creek Road, Maynardville, TN 37807 ‒ 865-363-6444
Call for food pantry days and hours

New Fellowship Full Gospel Church
914 Maynardville Pike Hwy 33, Maynardville, TN 37807 ‒ 865-255-9435
Sam Ward, Pastor
Located across from Paulette Elementary School
Food pantry 3rd Saturday of month from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Milan Baptist Church
1101 Maynardville Hwy, Maynardville, TN 37807 ‒ 865-992-8128
Next to Paulette Elementary, 3 miles south of Maynardville
Food Pantry 3rd Wednesday night each month
Call for time

We thank all reading this and hope this article enlightens our readers about this growing problem of food shortages throughout our country. A way for you to help is to be a volunteer for any food pantry near you and contact your politicians and voice your opinions. See you next month."