"I Want to Feed Chattanooga" - a Christmas Star Shines in Hixson
Funny where you find Christmas.
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In a duplex apartment kitchen near Ely Road in Hixson, it's almost dinner-time.
The kitchen looks like a thousand other well-loved, well-lived kitchens. Water's boiling on the stove top, a stack of mail on the corner of the counter, kids in the next room watching Bluey, an elf-on-a-shelf sits under a Bible verse — they broke bread together — hanging on the wall.
It smells like warmth.
Morgan Meadors, 31, is near the stove, scooping chicken noodle casserole into a take-home pan. Near the sink, Brea Reed, 30, is spooning mac & cheese out of the pot.
On the back eye, a pot of slow-cooked vegetables — lima and green beans, carrots and peas — sits simmering in stock.
Together, Morgan and Brea — friends, young moms — each have their own children to feed.
But tonight?
Just like most nights?
They're feeding other families, too.
"It is our responsibility as a community to help people," said Morgan.
Three nights a week, they're cooking warm kitchen meals — not scooped from one styrofoam container into another — for local families whose dinner would otherwise come from fast food, a gas station or not at all. Five adults in one apartment. One couple with five kids. Another couple caring for their elderly relatives. A mother who just gave birth. Another with a child just rushed to the ER.
All of whom do not have enough money to buy regular meals or groceries.
One by one, they will knock on Brea's duplex door, where she will answer with a big smile and hand them two days of containers of warm chicken noodle casserole, rich mac & cheese and tender vegetables.
No proof of income. No proof of anything other than being a human being.
"You deserve to eat," said Brea. "That's our motto."
They call it FeedNooga.
And if you want to find a Christmas star tonight, the modern manger looks like this:
Two moms, a small Hixson kitchen and a vision full of profound compassion:
"I want to feed Chattanooga," said Brea.
It began in October, during the SNAP crisis. Brea — she's married to local basketball star Shameca Gardner — posted on Facebook: we want to help.
From her Rossville home, Morgan saw the post and responded: I want to help.
"Two years ago, my husband was laid-off," said Morgan. "People don't understand how your life can change overnight. It's devastating."
Now, both Brea and Morgan (her husband's back working again) are in positions to help. So, they began buying groceries for families that signed up.
It was generosity in its purest form. Stripped-down compassion that says: out of our own kitchen, we will serve and love other families.
Families we don't even know.
Families for whom we ask nothing in return.
"You could have $50 million and sign up for my services," said Brea, "and I will still feed you. That's what we do."
Their original October idea? Buying bread-eggs-meat-groceries for families. (They even delivered.) It quickly became unsustainable and unaffordable.
So, they shifted.
"Home-cooked meals," said Morgan.
They price-shop, buy in bulk and love Publix's BOGO.
"I love to cook," said Brea.
It is her love language. On Thanksgiving, Brea woke up at 4:30 am, cooked for FeedNooga families then cooked for her own.
Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, FeedNooga families pick up their free dinner within a two-hour window, starting at 5 pm, from Brea's Hixson duplex.
"You deserve to eat," said Morgan, "no matter what."
Morgan's childhood friend Kevin Teasley signed on to help as a volunteer accountant.
Since October, FeedNooga has spent more than $1,000 to feed roughly three dozen families, he said.
"Seventy-four adults," he said, "and 69 children."
"We have served some of the most humble people," said Brea.
Families sign up through Facebook or message Brea who keeps a iPad spreadsheet of all families, who can sign up for 30 days at a time, then "cool off" for 30 days before signing up again.
"We have a wait list," she said.
All meals contain at least one vegetable. Once a week, they also make desserts. Since October, their menu has been abundant, loving, surprising.
Barbecue sliders. Blueberry muffins. Tuna casserole.
"I made a roast on Friday," said Morgan.
They've got stacks and shelves of baby food, Once Upon a Farm treats, canned chick peas, whole grain pasta, yellow rice, white-iced cupcakes, egg noodles.
For Christmas, they offered an angel tree for families and 28 kids, partnering with All or Nothing Fights, whose community of MMA fighters delivered truckloads — literally — of presents.
Brea's a full-time student earning her associate's degree in social work while also part-time cleaning a nearby daycare.
Morgan works full-time in hiring outreach. Both are moms of young children diagnosed with autism. Both see FeedNooga as a way to educate, too.
And education's another form of love.
Brea and Shameca coach softball teams, which often turn into post-game pizza-slumber parties. Guess where.
"I love kids," Brea said.
On Thursday, FeedNooga received its nonprofit status. In 2026, Brea, Morgan and Kevin have a wish list.
In this city, can anyone help?
- Access to a commercial kitchen.
Are there any nonprofits with unused kitchen space?
- A short list of volunteers.
Anyone interested in helping wrap presents for FeedNooga's Christmas angel tree?
- Increased funding and donations.
Here's their Instagram and Facebook.
And FeedNooga's CashApp ($FeedNooga) and Venmo (@FeedNooga25).
Brea can be reached at 615.260.0875.
- An established nonprofit to partner with FeedNooga.
Especially a nonprofit with vetted families that would receive meals.
Abundant, overflowing meals.
"We would rather give too much than too little," said Morgan.
On a magnet on fridge door, Brea had hung her daughter Kallee's homework: she was tracing over the word "am."
When Sarah and I arrived at Brea's for this story, we had a hunch we'd find a humble and beautiful story.
We didn't realize we were going to find Christmas, too.
I am, traces Kallee.
I.
Am.
We are.
Is not the core Christmas story?
We become fully ourselves — I am, we are — through contact with others, and when those encounters are defined by care, thoughtfulness and love, then something quite special happens.
I am fed.
We are fed.
Funny where you find Christmas.
Above a duplex apartment kitchen near Ely Road in Hixson, as vegetables slow-cook on the stove for hours, a Christmas star is shining piercingly, exquisitely bright.
And inside, as they offer warm casserole and mac & cheese — their own version of frankincense and myrrh — to families out in the cold, two mothers dream.
"If I had more space," Brea said, "I could easily feed 100 people."
Story ideas, questions, feedback? Interested in partnering with us? Email: david@foodasaverb.com
This story is 100% human generated; no AI chatbot was used in the creation of this content.
In a duplex apartment kitchen near Ely Road in Hixson, it's almost dinner-time.
The kitchen looks like a thousand other well-loved, well-lived kitchens. Water's boiling on the stove top, a stack of mail on the corner of the counter, kids in the next room watching Bluey, an elf-on-a-shelf sits under a Bible verse — they broke bread together — hanging on the wall.
It smells like warmth.
Morgan Meadors, 31, is near the stove, scooping chicken noodle casserole into a take-home pan. Near the sink, Brea Reed, 30, is spooning mac & cheese out of the pot.
On the back eye, a pot of slow-cooked vegetables — lima and green beans, carrots and peas — sits simmering in stock.
Together, Morgan and Brea — friends, young moms — each have their own children to feed.
But tonight?
Just like most nights?
They're feeding other families, too.
"It is our responsibility as a community to help people," said Morgan.
Three nights a week, they're cooking warm kitchen meals — not scooped from one styrofoam container into another — for local families whose dinner would otherwise come from fast food, a gas station or not at all. Five adults in one apartment. One couple with five kids. Another couple caring for their elderly relatives. A mother who just gave birth. Another with a child just rushed to the ER.
All of whom do not have enough money to buy regular meals or groceries.
One by one, they will knock on Brea's duplex door, where she will answer with a big smile and hand them two days of containers of warm chicken noodle casserole, rich mac & cheese and tender vegetables.
No proof of income. No proof of anything other than being a human being.
"You deserve to eat," said Brea. "That's our motto."
They call it FeedNooga.
And if you want to find a Christmas star tonight, the modern manger looks like this:
Two moms, a small Hixson kitchen and a vision full of profound compassion:
"I want to feed Chattanooga," said Brea.
It began in October, during the SNAP crisis. Brea — she's married to local basketball star Shameca Gardner — posted on Facebook: we want to help.
From her Rossville home, Morgan saw the post and responded: I want to help.
"Two years ago, my husband was laid-off," said Morgan. "People don't understand how your life can change overnight. It's devastating."
Now, both Brea and Morgan (her husband's back working again) are in positions to help. So, they began buying groceries for families that signed up.
It was generosity in its purest form. Stripped-down compassion that says: out of our own kitchen, we will serve and love other families.
Families we don't even know.
Families for whom we ask nothing in return.
"You could have $50 million and sign up for my services," said Brea, "and I will still feed you. That's what we do."
Their original October idea? Buying bread-eggs-meat-groceries for families. (They even delivered.) It quickly became unsustainable and unaffordable.
So, they shifted.
"Home-cooked meals," said Morgan.
They price-shop, buy in bulk and love Publix's BOGO.
"I love to cook," said Brea.
It is her love language. On Thanksgiving, Brea woke up at 4:30 am, cooked for FeedNooga families then cooked for her own.
Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, FeedNooga families pick up their free dinner within a two-hour window, starting at 5 pm, from Brea's Hixson duplex.
"You deserve to eat," said Morgan, "no matter what."
Morgan's childhood friend Kevin Teasley signed on to help as a volunteer accountant.
Since October, FeedNooga has spent more than $1,000 to feed roughly three dozen families, he said.
"Seventy-four adults," he said, "and 69 children."
"We have served some of the most humble people," said Brea.
Families sign up through Facebook or message Brea who keeps a iPad spreadsheet of all families, who can sign up for 30 days at a time, then "cool off" for 30 days before signing up again.
"We have a wait list," she said.
All meals contain at least one vegetable. Once a week, they also make desserts. Since October, their menu has been abundant, loving, surprising.
Barbecue sliders. Blueberry muffins. Tuna casserole.
"I made a roast on Friday," said Morgan.
They've got stacks and shelves of baby food, Once Upon a Farm treats, canned chick peas, whole grain pasta, yellow rice, white-iced cupcakes, egg noodles.
For Christmas, they offered an angel tree for families and 28 kids, partnering with All or Nothing Fights, whose community of MMA fighters delivered truckloads — literally — of presents.
Brea's a full-time student earning her associate's degree in social work while also part-time cleaning a nearby daycare.
Morgan works full-time in hiring outreach. Both are moms of young children diagnosed with autism. Both see FeedNooga as a way to educate, too.
And education's another form of love.
Brea and Shameca coach softball teams, which often turn into post-game pizza-slumber parties. Guess where.
"I love kids," Brea said.
On Thursday, FeedNooga received its nonprofit status. In 2026, Brea, Morgan and Kevin have a wish list.
In this city, can anyone help?
- Access to a commercial kitchen.
Are there any nonprofits with unused kitchen space?
- A short list of volunteers.
Anyone interested in helping wrap presents for FeedNooga's Christmas angel tree?
- Increased funding and donations.
Here's their Instagram and Facebook.
And FeedNooga's CashApp ($FeedNooga) and Venmo (@FeedNooga25).
Brea can be reached at 615.260.0875.
- An established nonprofit to partner with FeedNooga.
Especially a nonprofit with vetted families that would receive meals.
Abundant, overflowing meals.
"We would rather give too much than too little," said Morgan.
On a magnet on fridge door, Brea had hung her daughter Kallee's homework: she was tracing over the word "am."
When Sarah and I arrived at Brea's for this story, we had a hunch we'd find a humble and beautiful story.
We didn't realize we were going to find Christmas, too.
I am, traces Kallee.
I.
Am.
We are.
Is not the core Christmas story?
We become fully ourselves — I am, we are — through contact with others, and when those encounters are defined by care, thoughtfulness and love, then something quite special happens.
I am fed.
We are fed.
Funny where you find Christmas.
Above a duplex apartment kitchen near Ely Road in Hixson, as vegetables slow-cook on the stove for hours, a Christmas star is shining piercingly, exquisitely bright.
And inside, as they offer warm casserole and mac & cheese — their own version of frankincense and myrrh — to families out in the cold, two mothers dream.
"If I had more space," Brea said, "I could easily feed 100 people."
Story ideas, questions, feedback? Interested in partnering with us? Email: david@foodasaverb.com
This story is 100% human generated; no AI chatbot was used in the creation of this content.
Food as a verb thanks our story sponsor:
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