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Who Gets Groceries? The Hardest Question We Face at The Store
"With so many waiting for food... how do you decide who gets to come?"
I get asked this question more than any other—on tours, at Lunch & Learns, out in the community.
It’s a fair question. And it’s one of the hardest parts of this work.
Behind it are even tougher ones:
How long can we let our current families receive food with so many waiting?
Should we increase the times in between visits to The Store so more people can get help?
Can one family’s needs be prioritized over another?
There’s no satisfying answer.
And yet—we have to answer it. Every week. In staff meetings that go long. In moments that feel impossibly heavy. Because hunger doesn’t pause for paperwork or planning.
So here’s how we decide—imperfect as it is:
We always prioritize referrals from our 50+ partner agencies. When organizations like Safe Haven Family Shelter, The Red Cross, or the YWCA send someone, we trust it’s because they know the urgency. Those families go straight to the top of the list.
Why? Because it means we’re not serving in isolation. We’re part of a system—one that’s most effective when it's working together, not in silos.
For everyone else—walk-ins, website requests, word-of-mouth—we keep a waiting list. It’s currently over 2,000 families long. We move through it on a first-come, first-served basis for anyone under 200% of the federal poverty line. The wait is often close to a year.We hate that.
That’s why we’re expanding to TriStar Centennial Medical Center—and actively planning for a third site in North Nashville. The dream is simple: to clear that list. To reach a day when nobody waits for food.Until then, we’ll keep showing up. Making the best decisions we can, even when they don’t feel like enough.
And we’ll keep asking the deeper questions:
Why are families going without food in the first place?
Is there not enough to go around—or just not enough will to share it?
What kind of community are we building if thousands have to wait for a basic human need?
This work is beautiful. But some days, it’s also brutal.
I long for the day when we don’t have to decide who gets food—because we’ve decided, together, that no one should go without.
What does shared responsibility look like in your world?
Who’s in your waiting line?
Every week, The Store wrestles with an impossible question: With so many waiting for food, how do you decide who gets to come? Our CEO shares how we make these tough choices—prioritizing referrals from trusted partner agencies, managing a waitlist of over 2,000 families, and expanding to new locations so no one has to wait for a basic human need. This post sheds light on the heartbreaking realities of hunger, the importance of working together, and our vision for a community where no family has to wonder if food will be there tomorrow.
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