Monthly Service Challenge
Each month, a new mission will be posted as motivation for us all to roll up our sleeves and serve our communities. Be sure to keep the Office of the First Lady in the loop by posting on social media using #TennesseeServes for a chance to be recognized as a Service Spotlight. Grab your friends, family, classmates or colleagues and join us as Tennessee Serves!
M ay
Rural Tennessee is a core part of who we are as a state and when our rural communities thrive, Tennessee thrives. Throughout May, Tennessee Serves is supporting Tennessee’s rural communities in a multitude of ways.
One of the key missions of Tennessee Serves is to focus on rural and distressed counties in Tennessee. Often, these more remote communities have less resources, financial support, and volunteer power than Tennessee’s more urban areas. It’s important for us to help our neighbors who are struggling in these areas and work together to improve their access to resources.
Thanks to the tireless work of so many, our state has seen great improvement in our rural communities over the course of the Lee administration with the total number of distressed counties reducing from 15 to 8 since 2019. We must continue these efforts to ensure all of rural Tennessee is supported and cared for.
There are so many ways each of us can serve our neighbors in rural communities. Join Tennessee Serves this month as we continue in our commitment to rural Tennesseans by supporting and empowering them to succeed.
Service Opportunities
Rural Tennessee Nonprofits
East
Rural Resources Farm and Food Education Center
Appalachia Service Project
Appalachian Quality of Life
Children’s Center of the Cumberlands
Empower Cocke County
South Cumberland Community Fund
The Mission
Morgan Scott Project
Appalachian Resource Conservation & Development Council
Bledsoe County Food Bank
Middle
Maranatha Women’s Ministry
Helping Hands
Perry County Communitive Collaborative
Hope on the Square
Perry County Food Bank-Plus
South Cumberland Community Fund
Grundy County Food Bank
Mountain TOP Outreach Ministries
West
Wolf River Conservancy
Reelfoot Rural Ministries
Tennessee Homeless Solutions
Rural Health Association of TN
Mid South Food Bank’s Mobile Pantry Distribution
Tiptonville Senior Center
Exchange Club Carl Perkins Center of Lauderdale County
Lauderdale County Family Resource Center
Statewide
Tennessee AgrAbility
Tennessee FFA Foundation
Tennessee 4-H
Everyday Ways to Serve
- Pick up litter around small town roads, parks, or schools
- Donate to a rural food bank
- Donate mother and baby necessities to pregnancy centers in rural communities
- Volunteer at a state park in a distressed county, like Frozen Head State Park, Long Hunter State Park, Mousetail Landing State Park, or Reelfoot Lake State Park
- Donate gently used clothes and household items to a rural community resource center
- Connect with the TN Commission on Aging & Disability to find a senior center, senior nutrition or MyRide program in a rural area to support
- Download the Purposity app to meet a need in a rural community with the click of a button