Ballad, Niswonger offer total of $200,000 to match contributions to Second Harvest

BLOUNTVILLE — Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee could see up to $400,000 flowing into its coffers for future food needs in the event of another U.S. government shutdown and/or or disaster-driven emergency food responses in the region. The up to $400,000 boost to Second Harvest is thanks to Johnson City-based Ballad Health and Greeneville-based philanthropist Scott Niswonger, who announced contribution matches of up to $100,000 each during a Tuesday afternoon news conference at Second Harvest's Blountville headquarters off Exit 63 of Interstate 81. Alan Levine, CEO of Ballad, and Niswonger in back-to-back statements at the event said they made the decisions to make the offers to help because the federal government shutdown last year caused a temporary halt to the "food stamp" program today called SNAP, short for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The match by Ballad, the healthcare system for Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, comes on top of $100,000 Ballad provided during the suspension of SNAP in late 2025. Niswonger told reporters in a press availability after the news conference that his offer is funded by him and his family. For video of Levine and Niswonger speaking, go online to the Kingsport Times News Facebook and Instagram pages. SNAP SAFETY NET "SNAP is truly what we consider the main safety net for so many families in our area," Second Harvest Executive Director Rhonda Chafin said during the event. She recalled helping distribute food to four grandmothers from Blountville at the Bristol Motor Speedway distribution when SNAP benefits were suspended. She said of the four, one lived in a camper, another in a shed, one in a house and she wasn't sure the housing arragmeent for the fourth. They were in a car she said might have problems getting back to Bethel Drive in nearby Blountville, not far from where Chafin said she lives. "We know that so many people were not receiving their benefits," Chafin said. "We are going to find a way to feed our neighbors in need." With only a few days notice, Chafin said Second Harvest mobilized quickly to fill the need, with the question being not whether to respond but how quickly it could be done with literal tractor-trailer loads of food. She recalled getting a text one night from Todd Norris, a Ballad employee who served on the Second Harvest board. "He said, 'Ballad is going to help.' " Levine in his later remarks recalled that he had sent out that message on X, formerly known as Twitter, Oct. 27, 2025. His message came after he heard SNAP benefits were going to end if the shutdown didn't. The lose of SNAP in November "created sudden gaps in food access that no family should have to endure," Levine said. Chafin said Ballad's lead gift helped get fundraising efforts going, including 13 emergency distribution centers for SNAP recipients no longer receiving SNAP. In an eight-county area, she said 6,749 famlies representing 21,600 people received 235,776 pounds of food, ranging from fresh produce to pantry staples, dairy products and protein. She said the need and response were like no other in her more than three decades with Second Harvest, which originally was headquartered and housed in Elizabethton. The effort was "powered by compassion and partnership" during the holiday season. LEVINE SPEAKS "I don't know that I would ever be in a position where I didn't know if I could feed my family," Levine said during the event of his Oct. 27 social media message. "I felt like we had to do something," Levine said. "Our ears are always open, and our hears are always there to do the right thing for these communities." He announced the second $100,000 in the form of a match to spur on donations. During the SNAP suspension, he said in talking with reporters after the formal event, he was impressed with the efficiency of Second Harvest in distributing food to where and to whom it was needed. "I should have know Scott Niswonger was going to match the challenge," Levine said. "We'd love to see $200,000 in additional contributions" for a total of $400,000. NISWONGER SPEAKS "It is an addition to the challenge," Niswonger told reporters after the event. He then said he had intended to inform Chafin of his offer after the event, but he said he decided to go ahead and announce it during the formal part of the news conference. He also explained it was a personal gift from him and his family, not the Niswonger Foundation over which he is president. The match is "gift to the community" to build extra food bank capacity "for the next disaster," be it natural or government made, he said. THANKS TO OTHER SUPPORTERS Levine said many other entities help Second Harvest, including Food City's parent company KVAT. Chafin said she'd like to thank Calvary Cares in Erwin, First Trinity Pentacostal Church in Blountville and the Disabled American Veterans Chapter 39 in Bristol, which did a mobile distribution, as well as Higher Ground Baptist Church in Kingsport, Bristol Motor Speedway for allowing its facility to be used for distribution and Jonesborough-based Grace Manor. "That's just a few our our partners that were able to come" to Thursday's event, Chafin said. RETIREMENT Chafin also said it saddens her that Michael Ledford, manager of food operations and food defense for Second Harvest, is retiring. His last day is Friday and he will be missed, she said.