After opening a free grocery store earlier this year, country music star Brad Paisley and his wife are expanding their efforts to fight hunger in America.
The tour will run for two weeks, visiting food banks in 16 major cities including Los Angeles, New York, Houston, Atlanta, Miami, and Nashville, Tennessee. It will end in Chicago on Sept. 21.
“We’re just rallying to feed people,” Paisley said in a recent interview.
Some of the distributed meals will include artisanal pastas, hearty stews, and soups. The meals will be packed in semi-trucks with about 750,000 pounds (approx. 340,000 kg) of food to feed more than 60,000 families.
Williams-Paisley said they are grateful to be servants to the community during the pandemic.
“So many of us feel helpless during this time,” she said. “It just feels like there’s one disaster after another. One challenging situation after another. But it’s been really wonderful for both of us to have this outlet that was coming into fruition. We can’t solve all the problems. But to tackle this issue, it’s been really empowering.”
Since their store’s opening, the couple has heard countless stories about people who never thought they’d need food assistance but are now seeking it. He said more than 54 million people have experienced food insecurity in 2020, including 18 million children.
“Now it’s a matter of what’s happening and trying to figure out how to not let people fall through the cracks,” Paisley said. “It’s been a lot of people who have been poor for a long time. But then, there are others who were financially sound six months ago, but now have fallen on hard times. We are seeing this firsthand. We are trying to meet their needs.”
