Executive Director of Regional Inter-Faith Association

Story by Lyda Kay Ferree, The Southern Lifestyles Lady. Photography by Woody Woodard.

Lisa Tillman has been the Executive Director of Regional Inter-Faith Association (RIFA) since January 2009. RIFA is a faith-based nonprofit organization with a mission to reach out with the love of Christ to help people in need by providing physical and spiritual nourishment. Working at RIFA has allowed Lisa to use her spiritual gifts of leadership and administration to execute RIFA’s vision to lead and engage our community in the fight against hunger. In 2019 alone, RIFA distributed over 500,000 meals through the Soup Kitchen, food bank, food pantry, food co-op, snack backpack program and senior staples ministry.

Lisa was born and raised in Miami, Florida and is a graduate of the University of Florida with a degree in Business Administration. Since then, Lisa has been a part of the Jackson community for over 25 years and is a 2009 graduate of Leadership Jackson.

Under her direction, RIFA received the Leadership Jackson Performing Star Award in 2011 and was selected as the Non-Profit of the Year by the Jackson Chamber in 2014. Lisa was chosen by the Jackson Area Business and Professional Women as one of the 20 Most Influential Women in West Tennessee in 2016 and was a Sterling Award recipient.

When Lisa is not serving the community, she enjoys live music, traveling to the beach, a good book, and thrift shopping. Above all, she loves spending time with her family and friends.

Her hobbies/likes include walking; reading; movies; music (outdoor concerts at Century Farm and the Amp); thrift store shopping, estate sales and yard sales; traveling; the beach (“her happy place”); and spending time with her family and friends.

Lisa has been married to her husband, Kenneth Tillman, for 28 years. They have two young adult children—Kyle and Katie. They are members of Love and Truth Church and have been in the Jackson community for 25 years.

VIP: What is the history, purpose and vision of RIFA?

Lisa Tillman: RIFA is a faith-based nonprofit organization that reaches out with the love of Christ to help people in need by providing physical and spiritual nourishment. In 1976, local churches and community leaders came together to discuss the growing poverty levels in Jackson, Tennessee. The problem: each individual church and civic organization did not have the resources to effectively provide relief for those in need. To coordinate a united effort, they formed a separate agency to help: The Regional Inter-faith Association (RIFA). Today, RIFA’s purpose is to alleviate hunger in our city, and our vision is to lead and engage the community in the fight against hunger.

VIP: Describe the ministries RIFA offers.

LT: RIFA works to fight hunger in our community through nine different ministries. Our Soup Kitchen serves hot meals 365 days a year at no cost to our patrons. The Snack Backpack ministry, School Food Pantry, and Bus Stop Cafe are programs designed to target children in our community who go home to little or no food by providing nutritious meals for them on both the weekend and school breaks. Our Senior Staples ministry seeks to provide staple food items to senior adults through a partnership with eight local senior centers. RIFA’s Food Co-Ops, Food Bank, Community Outreach program, and Thrift Store are other ministries that enable us to provide food and necessities for those who need it within our community at little or no cost to them.

VIP: Will you again have Canstruction?

LT: Throughout the year, we rely on various events and fundraisers to help provide meals for our hungriest neighbors. Canstruction, our largest fundraising event of the year, is an opportunity for local businesses, schools and churches to showcase their creativity by building a large structure solely out of canned foods. At the close of the exhibition, all of the food used in the structure is donated to RIFA. With this event being cancelled this year due to COVID-19, we are looking forward to hosting our 17th annual event on September 30, 2021.

VIP: Do you have an annual fundraising campaign? If so, please give an update.

LT: This year, we have all been faced with circumstances we could never have predicted. However, through it all, we have been overwhelmed by the continued generosity of our supporters. With the majority of our large food drives and fundraisers cancelled this year, we took part in Feeding America’s Hunger Action Month this past September. We set a goal to collect a total of 100,000 pounds of food with one dollar being equivalent to one pound of food. The city did not only rally together to meet this goal, but they greatly surpassed it. By the end of the month, over 216,000 pounds of food and funds were donated to help fill the void of cancelled events and the growing need for food in our community. But, as we look ahead to 2021, we anticipate the need for donations to be even greater than ever before as many people, for the first time, turn to food banks for assistance as they face the continued effects of the pandemic.

VIP: What are RIFA’S immediate needs, and how has COVID-19 affected those whom RIFA serves?

LT: Throughout the uncertain times brought on by COVID-19, RIFA’s operations have remained open, and we have worked hard to ensure that food is available for the growing number of Jackson residents who have been and will continue to be affected by this pandemic. The safety of those we serve is our highest priority, so our team has been adapting to changing circumstances as they arise. Our ongoing needs are prayers, volunteers, financial support, donations of food, and gently-used items that can be made available in our Thrift Store.

Currently, with the holiday season upon us, we are focused on making sure that families in need are provided with the holiday staple items we all love such as ham, turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and more through our Hunger-Free Holiday. With the support of our community, these holiday bags are assembled and distributed throughout Thanksgiving and Christmas. If you would like to help provide a meal this holiday season, you may visit our website for more information.

VIP: How may the VIP readers and the general populace assist RIFA?

LT: For those interested in joining the fight against hunger in our community, there are many different opportunities to get involved whether it is by donating your time, money, food or items for the Thrift Store. Each week volunteers have the opportunity to serve in our Soup Kitchen and throughout our warehouse helping to sort items and pack Snack Backpacks, Senior Staple boxes, and Community Outreach bags. If people throughout the community would like to donate food or gently-used items for our Thrift Store, they may drop them off at our Donation Drop-Off Center.

To learn more about getting involved and to make a monetary donation, visit www.rifajackson.org.

VIP: What do you most enjoy about your work as Executive Director of RIFA?

LT: RIFA is truly a place where the staff, volunteers, and donors may be the hands and feet of Christ. Working together to love, serve, and heal the broken, the hurting, and the hopeless is truly an honor and a privilege.

VIP: Why is RIFA important to Jackson-Madison County?

LT: RIFA is the only non-profit organization in Jackson-Madison County with the primary purpose of socioeconomic status, and RIFA is passionate about providing consistent and reliable access to nutritious food for those in need throughout our community.

United Way’s ALICE data shows that 18% of families in Madison County are living in poverty with an additional 23% falling into the ALICE category (Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed), which means that their income is higher than the federal poverty level but lower than the cost of living. These numbers combined reflect that approximately 41% of the local population are struggling to provide basic needs for their households.

What to Know

Regional Inter-Faith Association (RIFA)
133 Airways Blvd.
P.O. Box 2301
Jackson, TN 38302
(731) 427-7963
www.rifajackson.org
Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.