Now that we are living a more normalized daily life, feeling less stressed about contracting COVID-19, we would like to believe that many of the negative impacts from it have evaporated. However, that would be far from the truth.

The holidays are a time for giving thanks and spending time with loved ones. Unfortunately, many Mississippians will struggle with hunger this holiday season. One in five Mississippians and one in four Mississippi children are hungry.

Any trip home for country music singer and songwriter Mac McAnally is special, but this week’s homecoming has extra meaning.

One in five Lee County residents is food insecure. This month, the Hunger Coalition of Northeast Mississippi and a group of local insurance agents is working to change that.

The American Heart Association and Jason Martin of Tupelo, executive director for the Tupelo/Lee County Hunger Coalition, have partnered to create awareness for the Grow the Good initiative, an effort to promote SNAP Incentive programs to increase access to fresh, healthy foods.

At the beginning of 2020, the Tupelo/Lee Hunger Coalition and Tupelo Homeless Task Force were seeing some of their lowest rates of food insecurity and homelessness they’ve seen in years. Then COVID-19 added on new stresses.

Before the coronavirus pandemic hit Mississippi earlier this year, Lee County had seen a significant decrease in food insecurity.

The Tupelo/Lee County Hunger Coalition would like to express its deepest appreciation for the response of this community to the COVID-19 pandemic.