NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – Tullu Schuyler Quinn has been sharing her health journey on the Caring Bridge website since just before her diagnosis with grade IV glioblastoma brain cancer last summer.

But her journal reads like much more than that; part sermon, part spiritual teaching, part love letter to her family and friends.

Here is an excerpt from December 31, 2020:

“Living life to the fullest is certainly not about accumulation or quantities–money, friendships, homes, or hoarding opportunities. I imagine the hope here is about living deeply, with intention, with purpose aligned within the essence of god’s call and hope for us, which is really to deeply love and let ourselves be loved.”

“Having an outlet has been so meaningful for me,” Quinn said. “That has been such a source of support for me, to feel connected, especially during COVID when we can’t gather.”

Gathering is the cornerstone of her life’s work. After college, Quinn, a Nashville native, attended seminary in New York, which led her to do work with The Poverty Initiative. Then she moved to Nicaragua, where she focused on food security projects with poor farmers.

“I was totally obsessed with farming and vegetables and cooking and saw first hand how healing food can be. How it can be a tool for a more just community and a more just world,” Quinn said.

That led to Tallu creating the Nashville Food Project, a non-profit that grows, cooks, and shares nutritious food with the goal of alleviating hunger in the Middle Tennessee community.

Its gardens produce more than 25,000 servings of organic fruits and vegetables yearly and the organization partners with more than 30 other non-profits to pair healthful meals with their services.

“The food project is not a church, but it is a place that I think has saved a lot of people, myself included,” Quinn said.

Tallu shifted her role with the Nashville Food Project from CEO to Founder after her cancer diagnosis. Her focus now is on finding the joy in everyday moments with her husband Robbie and two children, Lulah and Thomas.

“My husband and I are really reminding them that love never ends,” Quinn said. “There’s not a ton on a huge bucket list but trying to stay present to what’s right in front of me, because it’s pretty beautiful.”