Our Story

During a Sunday morning church service in August 2019, Bradd Kimes felt prompted by the words, “Feed My Children.” Rather than let the moment pass, he began praying about what those words might mean in action.

Two days later, Bradd overheard Michael Baker, a local children’s pastor, speaking by phone with the principal of McDowell Elementary School about a need among her students. That conversation led Bradd to meet with the principal, who explained that many students needed snacks during the school day. Some ate lunch as early as 10:20 a.m. and struggled to concentrate when hunger returned later in the afternoon.

By Friday, the first order of snacks was on its way from a Tennessee distributor to McDowell Elementary. Bradd and his wife, Charity, covered the cost of the snacks for the next couple of months. As the need became clearer, they invited Michael to join them in establishing Bright Apple. In November 2019, Bright Apple became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

Since then, Bright Apple has provided more than 1.5 million healthy snacks to children across Maury County. What began as one response to one school’s need has grown into a community-wide effort. Bright Apple works with school principals and food distributors to deliver nutritious snacks directly to participating schools, where school teams make them available to students throughout the school day.