Insurance Office of America (IOA) and Simmons Bank will host their inaugural Bank-Out Hunger Drive starting September 1-30, 2022, for Hunger Action Month in five East Tennessee counties.  During the month of September we will try to help the 1 in 4 children at risk of hunger and the 1 in 5 adults at risk of hunger.  By these numbers, 239,880 are currently going hungry in East Tennessee.  IOA and Simmons Bank have decided to rally together to do what they can for the communities they serve.

The following Simmons Bank locations will have barrels or collection boxes set up to collect any unopened non-perishable donated food items:

  • 202 North Kentucky St, Kingston – 4229 Highway 411 North, Madisonville
  • 805 Highway 68 West, Sweetwater – 1215 Highway 411 North, Vonore
  • 710 S Foothills Plaza Drive, Maryville – 8351 E Walker Springs Ln, Ste. 300, Knoxville
  • 2 Park Street, Athens – 1612 S Congress Parkway, Athens

All food donations collected in Blount, Knox, Roane and Monroe counties will be going to Second Harvest of East Tennessee.  Second Harvest of East Tennessee will collect and distribute to their partner agencies, food pantries, shelters and churches to help fill this need.  If you are unable to bring food items to the bank, you can make donations at following tinyurl.com/2p8p86rr .  Virtual food drive option for the 4 counties above – link is below:https://virtualfooddrive.secondharvestetn.org/a/bdb3a3d3781d989628ab883d5856400c16379c50

All food donations collected in McMinn County will be going to Coordinated Charities of Athens who has currently helped over 600 families with groceries, totaling over 3,000 bags.  If you would like to make a monetary donation, Coordinated Charities will accept them on their website:  https://portal.icheckgateway.com/CoordinatedCharities/ .

The following non-perishable foods that would be appreciated for donation are:

  • Peanut butter, canned meat, corn (Most needed items)
  • Canned fruits, vegetables, or beans
  • Canned Protein (tuna, salmon, chicken, etc.)
  • Canned soup, stew, broth, pasta sauce
  • Packaged foods (seeds, nuts, oats, granola, rice, quinoa, beans, pasta)
  • Plastic jar foods (nut/seed butters, jelly, cooking oil)
  • Shelf-stable milk (dairy, oat, nut, etc.)

It is important that the people in this community know that they are loved!  There is no reason for any one child or adult to have to go hungry.  With statistics of 1 out of every 5 people are going hungry that means it is likely that we work with, go to church with or someone we talk to daily is going hungry and we do not know it.  Please show love to those people by contributing any way you can to help.  You have our appreciation for your generosity in advance.