CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – For the second year in a row, Kenny York, founder of Manna Café Ministries, is once again taking his “Prove It Clarksville” campaign to the streets to raise awareness about the hungry and homeless in Montgomery County.
He is literally spending time on the streets of Clarksville in what he is calling a “Prayer Walk”. He says he’s getting people who honk and wave at him and he talks to people who don’t really understand what he is doing until he tells them.
York says he is trying to be an advocate for the poor and the homeless who don’t have a voice and is working to help people become more aware of just how big the homeless population is in the community.
York talked about his efforts last year. “While we brought some awareness to it we didn’t really get a lot of results. Because poverty is so real in our area, one in six adults suffers from food instability and one in four children go to bed hungry. Those are real facts,” said York.
Part of his inspiration to take to the city streets again was that over and over again he hears people say they care about the community but when it comes to people actually putting their voice to action the result is very small and they are not proving that they care.
He said there are a few people in the community stepping forward but there is more that we can do. My message with this is trying to wake people up and say as a caring community we can make a difference for those people who are hurting.
Here’s a reminder that Combat Hunger sponsored by Appletons Harley-Davidson is coming up Saturday, November 14 from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Manna Cafe will be at area grocery stores collecting donations of food and money.
To follow York and his experiences over the past few days go to proveitclarksville.com and to learn more about the work of Manna Café in the community visit mannacafeministries.com.