Teamsters Local 667
Memphis Strong — carrying the legacy of 1968
Powering · Labor Education
Feed The Needy
Thirty-two years. Thousands of families every Easter and Thanksgiving. One Memphis grandmother who never stopped.
Founded by Ruth Rawlings-Banks in 1994, Feed The Needy delivers full holiday meal boxes — turkey, fresh produce, and pantry staples — to food-insecure families across Memphis and the entire Mid-South. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit powered by volunteers who start packing at 3 a.m.
Why they need you right now
This year, funding shortfalls forced Feed The Needy to cut 1,800 families in April — and 1,500 more at Thanksgiving. That's 3,300 Mid-South families who went without. Memphis can fix that.
Put a Family Back on the List32
years feeding the Mid-South — since 1994
3,400
families served two full boxes each, Thanksgiving 2025
4,200+
families served before Thanksgiving 2024
242,000
pounds of food distributed with Memphis-Shelby County Schools
Become a donor
Four ways to give — pick the one that takes you two minutes
Feed The Needy is a registered 501(c)(3) — EIN 90-0983595. Every donation is tax-deductible.
PayPal / Online
Give online at feedtheneedy1994.org (site occasionally down — Zelle always works).
feedtheneedy1994.orgCorporate & Union Sponsorship
Locals, congregations, and businesses: sponsor a distribution — call Ruth's team to set it up.
(901) 482-1114The story
Ruth Rawlings-Banks — the grandmother who wouldn't let Memphis go hungry
It started in 1994 at Cargill's Memphis corn plant, where Ruth Rawlings-Banks organized fifty food baskets for an adopt-a-school outreach. Fifty baskets. That was the whole operation.
But the need didn't stop, so Ruth didn't either. Year after year, the baskets multiplied — more sponsors, more volunteers, more neighborhoods. When she retired in 2014, Cargill helped her turn the outreach into a full 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Today Feed The Needy delivers two full boxes to thousands of families every Easter and Thanksgiving: one with a turkey, pie crust, and fresh produce; one packed with pantry staples — a real holiday meal for a family of four to six.
The Memphis Police Department, the Shelby County Sheriff's Office, and Memphis-Shelby County Schools all show up to help distribute. Local news covers the 3 a.m. packing lines every year. Thirty-two years in, Ruth is still leading it — and still saying yes to every family she possibly can.
See the work
Watch what your donation does
2025 Thanksgiving — Feed The Needy
MSCS partners with Feed The Needy — 242,000 lbs of food
Behind the scenes: MPD and Feed The Needy
In the news
Three decades of headlines
FOX13 Memphis
Volunteers pack food boxes for Mid-South families — funding cuts forced 3,300 families off the list this year
Action News 5
Feed The Needy packs Thanksgiving boxes for 3,000+ Mid-South families — volunteers start at 3 a.m.
Action News 5
Feed The Needy fights hunger and food deserts — and reduces petty crime
Commercial Appeal
Ruth Banks and Feed The Needy help fill poor families' bellies — and hearts
Tri-State Defender
Feed The Needy marks 30th anniversary with massive holiday food drive
WREG
Feed The Needy keeps Memphis families fed at Thanksgiving
Why labor stands with Feed The Needy
This movement was born on a union-town factory floor — a Cargill plant worker organizing food baskets for her neighbors. Feeding families is what solidarity looks like when it rolls up its sleeves. Labor Education calls on every local, congregation, and Memphis business: put Feed The Needy in your giving budget.
P.O. Box 2067, Memphis, TN 38101 · 501(c)(3) · EIN 90-0983595
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