Feed the Needy fights hunger in food deserts and reduces petty crime

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – An organization that has spent decades feeding families in Memphis' food deserts has in turn become a resource for fighting crime in those communities.

At the Feed the Needy warehouse in North Memphis, blessing gifts are packed into boxes to help families experiencing food insecurity before Thanksgiving.

Since April, Feed the Needy has provided nearly 9,000 Memphis families with holiday food boxes.

“It’s hard out here for a lot of us single parents. “Sometimes we don’t know where our next meal will come from,” said Chiquita Jefferson.

Chiquita Jefferson has six children. Feed the Needy surprised Jefferson early with her Thanksgiving meal box.

“The hardest part is making ends meet, and the kids don’t understand it,” Jefferson said. “Sometimes you have to make a clear decision whether to do this or that.”

Jefferson isn't the only one making these difficult decisions.

More than 22% of Memphis households live at or below the poverty level.

According to the USDA, the poorest areas in Bluff City also have the worst access to nutritious food.

And Feed the Needy and its volunteers say these food shortages often lead to petty crime.

Eddie Brooks of Universal Christian Center is one of over 40 partners working with Feed the Needy.

“Below the poverty line, actually, so they steal, they rob, and this food helps us during the holidays to stop people from stealing and taking things from people that don't belong to them,” Brooks said.

Potential food box recipients are identified by Memphis Police, Memphis-Shelby County schools, churches and religious organizations.

Feed the Needy Chair and CEO Ruth Rawlings-Banks has been leading this work since 1994.

“I come from a family of 14 and remember growing up in South Memphis and how the community rallied around my late mother and gave us food,” Rawlings-Banks said. “What Feed the Needy does is we wrap our arms around the community and let them know that we are here for them, that we love them and that we are trying to reach as many families as possible.”

Families in some of the city's poorest neighborhoods – primarily North Memphis, South Memphis, Hickory Hill and Northaven – will receive the holiday food packages.

This year's distribution is already limited.

“The waiting list continues to grow,” Rawlings-Banks said. “In some areas of Northaven there is only one store that serves the entire community.

“Hunger and poverty go hand in hand and have no race, no gender.”

Ruth would like to see Feed the Needy's reach expand to combat not only hunger, but also the crime that often results from it.

“You don’t have to go out and steal because there are resources out there.”

There is very little data on the intersection of food insecurity and crime, but Feed the Needy's executive director told Action News 5's Jerry Askin that she has seen firsthand how crime rates have decreased in some neighborhoods as the food boxes are sold out.

Feed the Needy continues to need donations to support even more families in the future.

Click here and donate to feed those in need.

There are also links to food sources if you need help.

Here are some other resources for food in the Mid-South:

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