More Of Kate Plus 8 Giving Back In Kingsport, TN for Feeding America

TimesNews.net KINGSPORT — Eighteen helping hands came to the Tri-Cities Wednesday as the reality series “Kate Plus 8” filmed inside Food City on Eastman Road, collecting items for an area food bank. Kate Gosselin and her eight children were greeted by a capacity crowd that brought donations of food and cash for a chance to meet the reality television family whose show has aired for nearly six seasons on The Learning Channel (TLC). Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee Executive Director Rhonda Chafin said officials with TLC and its parent network Discovery Channel contacted the food bank’s national office Feeding America to donate to their operations specifically.
“They had to determine which food bank they felt could use the support of TLC and the ‘Kate Plus 8’ show, and they selected our food bank because we are very aggressive in our outreach to our community to help feed the hungry. Out of 200 food banks in the national system, she chose ours,” said Chafin. Kathy Smith, the food bank’s director of community relations, noted that the eight-county region Second Harvest serves contains one of the highest concentrations of families living below the poverty line.“This all came together within the last two weeks when we were contacted by Feeding America. They chose our region because we are one of the most needy regions in all of the country,” said Smith.

Chafin reported that approximately 90,000 individuals throughout Northeast Tennessee fall below the poverty level, and the food bank serves 33,000 individuals each month with food supplies shipped to local church pantries and other human resource agencies along with special after-school programs for students. Ron Bonacci, Food City vice president of marketing, said Gosselin’s visit is part of an initiative she plans to spell out in an upcoming season of the show, where she will go to different parts of the country volunteering her time for charities. Although representatives of a number of local and regional media outlets attended Wednesday’s event, Gosselin gave an interview to only one local television and radio station. Food City has been assisting Second Harvest for nearly two decades by hosting food drives and having its stores serve as drop-off locations for donations.
Bonacci said the chain recently contributed $328,000 to the regional food pantry as a result of a Race Against Hunger campaign during the winter months. You can sponsor a child, make a donation, or find out how to get involved with a food drive by contacting the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee at 477-4053 or visiting www.netfood bank.org.