Country music star Brad Paisley and his wife, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, are going above and beyond to help fight hunger in the United States.

Fox News reported that the couple, who opened a free grocery store earlier in 2020, have promised to donate 1 million nutritional meals this month. They are calling this initiative the Million Meal Donation Tour, which launched last week in Detroit, Michigan.

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The tour involves visiting food banks in 16 major American cities including Los Angeles, New York, Houston, Atlanta, Miami and Nashville, Tennessee. It is scheduled to end in Chicago on September 21.

“We’re just rallying to feed people,” Paisley explained.

Williams-Paisley added that they are just happy to use their platform to help their community amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

“So many of us feel helpless during this time,” she said. “It just feels like there’s one disaster after another. One challenging situation after another. But it’s been really wonderful for both of us to have this outlet that was coming into fruition. We can’t solve all the problems. But to tackle this issue, it’s been really empowering.”

The meals that are set to be distributed include artisanal pastas, hearty stews and flavorful soups. Once they are made, the meals will be packed semi-trucks with about 750,000 pounds of food that will be used to feed more than 60,000 families.

This comes after the couple opened their free grocery store The Store back in May. Since opening it in Nashville, they have heard tons of stories from people who never thought that they would need food assistance, but do now amidst the coronavirus pandemic. Paisley explained that in 2020 alone, 54 million people have experienced food insecurity, with 18 million of these people being children under the age of 18.

“Now it’s a matter of what’s happening and trying to figure out how to not let people fall through the cracks,” Paisley said. “It’s been a lot of people who have been poor for a long time. But then, there are others who were financially sound six months ago, but now have fallen on hard times. We are seeing this first-hand. We are trying to meet their needs.”

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