Stats reflect the community need filled every year by generous Empty Stocking Fund gifts

Sarah Riley, Knoxville News Sentinel
·2 min read

As our distribution week gets closer, News Sentinel Charities Empty Stocking Fund board is in serious planning mode for December.

Our volunteers work all year to secure donations, collect recipients' names, order food and special boxes in which it is delivered, rent heavy equipment for distribution week, solicit volunteers, determine efficient traffic patterns for the Jacob Building, ordering signs and much, much more.

We love working out the details, but what we're really thinking about is the need in the community and how to fill the void.

We serve up food baskets, but we also never forget our mission is to offer a bit of light to recipients so they can share a holiday family meal together.

Here's a look at the hard facts surrounding our annual effort:

  • 3,000 baskets were distributed by the Empty Stocking Fund last year to local families experiencing food insecurity.

  • 41% of the households served have a monthly income of $833 or less.

  • The Knox County Community Action Committee works with 23 community partners to identify families in need and deliver baskets to those who would benefit most from a holiday boost. Many of these partners specifically work with clients who are elderly, have medical issues, don't speak English or live in remote areas of East Tennessee.

  • Volunteers deliver 400 baskets to homebound families. About 1,200 community members pick up their boxes on our distribution day and the rest get theirs from community centers or local distributions sites.

  • Recipients live in 20 East Tennessee counties, but the bulk of our distribution (65%) is in Knox County. Families are spread geographically throughout the county.

It's easy to set up a monthly gift at esfknox.org to help us reach our goal of serving as many families as we can. All money donated goes to the effort because we are 100% volunteer-run.

For those who prefer to send checks, please mail them to 2332 News Sentinel Drive, Knoxville TN 37921.

Corporate donations are vital in helping us reach our goal as well, and our president, Knox News editor Joel Christopher, would be happy to talk about the benefits of those gifts at joel.christopher@knoxnews.com. Partnerships with key businesses such as Weigel's, Food City and Citizen Advertising have provided the foundation to allow us to serve so many of our neighbors in need.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knoxville Empty Stocking Fund fills a community need