SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. — Many families sit down to a special meal on Christmas Day, but for people experiencing food insecurity, that can be hard to come by.
In Shelbyville Tennessee, one man is on a mission to get a hot Christmas dinner to anyone who needs one in his community.
Tyrell Johnson and the growing Johnson Family Giveback is helping feed more than 1000 people near Shelbyville Tennessee this Christmas.
This marks the 6th year of the annual outreach effort.
"I started out a first few years, it was just out of my pocket money I'd saved up for the idea I came up with," said Tyrell Johnson, founder of Johnson Family Giveback. "And then over time we slowly started getting donations from different churches."
According to organizers, sponsors including The Kresge Foundation, A. and S. Heating & Cooling, Believers Faith Fellowship, Chili's of Shelbyville, and more have joined the effort to help.
For the Johnsons, giving is a family tradition.
According to Tyrell Johnson, it's something he learned from his grandparents.
"It's just a willingness to give back, always wanting to give back. 20 or 30 years going back, they always gave back at some point with gifts or just helping somebody that was homeless and needed somewhere to stay," Johnson said.
Many members of the Johnson family take part in making the free Christmas meal possible.
"Every year it gets bigger and bigger and every year I'm blown away by how he's able to help organize it," said Ashely Johnson-Varner, Tyrell's sister.
After the meals are packed up, some recipients pick theirs up outside the VFW in Shelbyville, while others are delivered door-to-door by volunteers.
"Just a knock at the door and a Merry Christmas and a hot meal, it goes a really long way," Johnson-Varner said.
The Christmas Day tradition has volunteers beyond the Johnson family too like Alicia Reeves.
"I started over as a single mom and we had a pretty rough year. So this year, I wanted to make Christmas a little bit different, I wanted to start new traditions with my kids because I had so many people help me out last year" said Alicia Reeves, a volunteer.
More outreach efforts are planned from the Johnson family over the summer to help get kids ready for school.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at robb.coles@newschannel5.com.
Another example of how one person can truly make a difference. And the best part - we all can help! As a nurse, Laura handles emergencies every day. But nothing could prepare her for the emergency that brought her hometown to its knees. From her current home in Tennessee, she's mobilizing aid and supplies for Helene survivors and is helping make their recovery easier and their holidays brighter. I hope you take a moment to watch her story - you might even feel inspired to lend a helping hand.
-Rebecca Schleicher
