With hunger being a reality for one in five Tennesseans, the Tennessee Farm Bureau and Farm Credit Mid-America joined together in 2015 to form a partnership to help solve that dilemma.

Several ideas were considered to create an event that would allow Tennessee agriculture and Tennessee businesses to join together to fight hunger in local communities.

These organizations are helping to feed the hungry through regional food banks as well as through clay-shooting events called Shooting Hunger.

The first Shooting Hunger event held in October of 2015 raised enough funds to provide more than 88,000 meals. In 2016, Tennessee Farmers Co-op came on board as a presenting sponsor, a welcome addition to the team.

The support for Shooting Hunger has been nothing short of amazing, with shooters coming from as far as Nebraska and sponsors too numerous to mention. In addition, the entire Tennessee agriculture industry has jumped on board in the fight against hunger.

Today, Shooting Hunger has grown to hosting three events annually, one in each grand division, and these events have raised enough funds to provide more than 2 million meals. In an effort to make an impact on hunger in every county across the state, funds raised are distributed evenly among all 95 counties.

A Shooting Hunger event will be held Sept. 21 from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Nashville Gun Club, 1100 County Hospital Road, Nashville. This will be a rain-or-shine event, and prizes will be awarded, including a $500 scholarship to the top youth shooter in each flight.

For more information, visit shootinghunger.com.

A majority of the funds are used to provide weekly backpacks full of food for school children who would otherwise go without over the weekend. The remaining funds are donated to local food pantries across Tennessee.

These organizations are happy to be part of the fight against hunger in the community by helping to feed and foster hope for those in need.