In Gray, Tennessee, a significant number of Northeast Tennesseans received federal assistance through the SNAP program in September. Over 50,000 residents benefited, with a total distribution of $10,489,278, according to data provided by the Tennessee Department of Human Services.

This information was shared by the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee, which announced the upcoming launch of its emergency SNAP plan. As part of this initiative, the organization will begin large-scale food distributions across the eight counties of Northeast Tennessee starting Monday.

Second Harvest has encouraged community members to reach out to both state and federal lawmakers, urging them to advocate for the full release of SNAP funding. The organization emphasizes the importance of these benefits for the local population.

According to the data, 52,419 individuals, representing nearly 10% of the region’s total population of 526,376, were part of families receiving SNAP benefits last month. The impact is most pronounced in Hancock County, where nearly 20% of residents received assistance. In all counties, except Washington, the percentage of recipients was at least 10%, with Washington County slightly lower at 7.6%.

In terms of monetary distribution, Sullivan County, the region’s most populous, received nearly $3.3 million, while Washington County benefited from almost $2.2 million in SNAP funds.

The monetary value of benefits was almost $3.3 million in Sullivan County, the region’s largest by population, and it was almost $2.2 million in Washington County.

The figures for each county are:

• Carter — 6,245 people, $1.24 million, 11.1% of population.
• Greene — 7,166 people, $1.43 million, 10.2% of population.
• Hancock — 1,254 people, $230,092, 18.8% of population.
• Hawkins — 7,151 people, $1.42 million, 12.6% of population.
• Johnson — 2,080 people, $385,668, 11.6% of population.
• Sullivan — 16,212 people, $3.27 million, 10.0% of population.
• Unicoi — 1,807 people, $352,908, 10.1% of population.
• Washington — 10,504 people, $7.6% of population.