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Some people like to talk about all the negative things young people are doing today, but one businesswoman knows differently.

“Everybody focuses on what kids are doing wrong today, and (we have volunteers who) are doing something good and for all the right reasons,” said Lisa Blackwood, acting “interim straw boss” for Community Food Connection (CFC), 1402 E. Broadway, Maryville.

Blackwood said the young adults she’s met are “great and very responsible.”
She feels teens are busier now than when she was young. Blackwood, who’s been with the group since 1993, said that some months the two hours she worked on Saturday mornings together with young volunteers felt “huge.”

Young adults are helping this nonprofit organization in a variety of ways.
For instance, members of the Maryville High School National Honors Society work the third Saturday of every month — including the summer — from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., she said.

One Boy Scout just completed his Eagle Scout project at the CFC, Blackwood said. Brendan Wood raised several tables in the store and installed rollers to make them easier to move around, she said. Wood also installed several shelving units, which increased CFC’s shelf space by 36 feet and doubled its width, Blackwood said.
Wood conceived of the idea for his project, raised the money and recruited volunteers to help do the work, she said. The Scout had about $1,200 in leftover donations when he finished his project, and Wood donated it to the CFC, Blackwood said.

Another way young adults help the organization is through Trick or Cans, which is celebrating its 10-year anniversary this year. Carolyn McAmis, a mother of two children who have participated in Trick or Cans for the past five years, said about 300 people take part in the event. They collect anywhere from 8,000 pounds to 10,000 pounds of cans a year.

Blackwood said she remembers some years when more than 15,000 pounds was collected. McAmis said, “A lot of people give (food) around Christmas time, so (she) knows (Trick or Cans) helps to get them over-the-hump until people start giving again.

The CFC was started in 1991 by a group of concerned citizens, churches and the Blount County Ecumenical Action Council, Blackwood said. The purpose is to provide emergency food to anyone who comes in and asks for it.

The organization serves more than 850 families a month. Those numbers have increased over the past couple months, she said. The CFC had 80 new families in August and 72 new families in September, Blackwood said.

To receive assistance, family members are asked to fill out a registration form and offer some form of identification. Families may return as often as once every two weeks. However, when the group ran a statistical analysis about four years ago, they found most families come by five to six times a year, Blackwood said.

The CFC is open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Those three days a week they go through about 2,700 pounds of food, she said.

The organization gets the food in a variety of different ways. Some of their food comes from drives conducted at schools, retail stores, civic groups and other companies. The CFC also receives food weekly from the Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee for a handling fee, Blackwood said. They receive United States Department of Agriculture foods when available.

Bread shortage

When the CFC started 16 years ago at an old icehouse in Alcoa, all they could give out was a bag of dried beans and a rice cake. Now they are able to send families home with a whole bag of goods. A bag usually consists three canned vegetables, one can of fruit, macaroni and cheese, canned soup, tuna, cereal, peanut butter and a bag of chips or cookies, depending what’s in stock, Blackwood said.

The CFC is currently in need of bread, she said.

“Bread’s a big deal. People ask for it all the time,” Blackwood said.

However, they have been out of bread for two months because it costs too much to buy it, she said. Grocery and bread stores used to be able to give them their old bread, but now they have to throw it out and pour bleach on it, Blackwood said. She heard stores now have to do this because several years ago somebody got sick on moldy bread and sued a store.

Blackwood said the group’s volunteers do “a very good job feeding people.” Lately, they have helped a lot of new people. While looking at the different-colored sheets of paper that signify the last time a family came in, she noticed a lot of last year’s color, beige, and said, “But apparently we’ve helped some people over the hump.”

For those interested in conducting a food drive for the CFC, please contact Lisa Blackwood at 983-7147.

Donations of money and food are also welcome. Suggested foods include peanut butter, canned meats, canned soups, canned fruits, vegetables, macaroni and cheese and dry or condensed milk. Personal hygiene products are appreciated as well.

To donate money, please make checks payable to Community Food Connection and mail them to P.O. Box 786, Alcoa, TN 37701.