American Idol Star Clark Beckham, Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee and UnitedHealthcare Fight Hunger in Middle Tennessee


Published June 05, 2015

  • Beckham to join UnitedHealthcare volunteers in staffing a Mobile Pantry at White House First United Methodist Church, the 115th Mobile Pantry the company has funded since 2012

American Idol star Clark Beckham and volunteers from UnitedHealthcare today will staff a Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee Mobile Pantry, the 115th Mobile Pantry to be funded by UnitedHealthcare through a $300,000 donation.

The Mobile Pantry will be at the White House First United Methodist Church, 3403 Highway 31W North in White House.

“After a whirlwind few months on American Idol, I’m happy to be back in my hometown of White House, and am thankful to be working with Second Harvest Food Bank and UnitedHealthcare to help fight hunger and fill a very real need in a practical way,” said Beckham.

Mobile Pantries deliver food directly to individuals and families in need during large-scale, one-day food distributions. Second Harvest works directly with its network of partner agencies throughout its 46-county service area and partners with organizations like UnitedHealthcare to provide these distributions.

On average, each Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee Mobile Pantry supplies 15,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables, including nonperishable products, providing approximately 250 families in rural communities with one to two weeks of groceries. 

“Second Harvest Food Bank appreciates UnitedHealthcare’s continued generous support of our mission to feed hungry people and work to solve hunger issues in our community,” said Jaynee Day, president and CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. “Through this partnership with UnitedHealthcare, we have provided nutritious meals to more than 22,000 households.”

Since 2012, UnitedHealthcare has donated $300,000 to Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, which has enabled the nonprofit to fight hunger by distributing 2 million pounds of food to more than 1.7 million children, families and individuals in the region.

“UnitedHealthcare is grateful for the opportunity to partner with Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee to help ensure Tennesseans have access to fresh, nutritious food,” said Rita Johnson-Mills, CEO, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Tennessee. “We want to do all we can to help build healthier communities and eradicate hunger in Middle Tennessee.”

This project is the latest in UnitedHealthcare’s “Do Good. Live Well.” program, an employee-volunteer initiative aimed at preventing hunger and obesity, inspiring service and encouraging volunteerism. For more information about the benefits of volunteering and to find local opportunities to get involved, visit www.DoGoodLiveWell.org. Follow @DoGoodLiveWell on Twitter or “like” Do Good. Live Well. on Facebook.

UnitedHealthcare serves more than 1 million people in Tennessee with a network of 146 hospitals and more than 24,000 physicians and other care providers statewide.

About Clark Beckham
American Idol Season 14 runner up Clark Beckham was born in Nashville but grew up in White House, Tenn. He later attended Lee University where he graduated with honors with a degree in History. Clark plays multiple instruments and got most of his musical experience playing in church and on the street corners of downtown Nashville. Clark has a deep and an undeniable passion for the music that's inside of him and will do anything to make sure it comes out for everyone to hear.

About Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee
Organized in 1978, Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee is a private, not-for-profit, tax-exempt organization. Second Harvest’s mission is to feed hungry people and work to solve hunger issues in our community. Second Harvest distributes food and other products to approximately 450 nonprofit partner agencies in 46 counties in middle and west Tennessee. Our partners include food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, childcare facilities, senior centers, group homes and youth enrichment programs. For more information on Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee and its programs, please visit secondharvestmidtn.org.

About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people nationwide live healthier lives by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. The company offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, military service members, retirees and their families, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 850,000 physicians and care professionals, and 6,000 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com or follow @myUHC on Twitter.