Murfreesboro, TN – Taylor Farms presents Hometown Huddle 2023, an annual food drive that is a community-powered initiative. The three-day event will be held at Patterson Park Community Center and consists of two components: The Collection Intake Days will be held Tuesday, September 19th, from 1:30 p.m.- 4:30 p.m. and Wednesday, September 20th, from 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. The Sort-a-Thon will be on Thursday, September 21st, from 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Hometown Huddle is a United Way of Rutherford and Cannon Counties event that provides nutritious meals for local students during school breaks. Last year, with the help of our community and more than 80 volunteers, we distributed nearly 500 bags to Cannon County Schools, Murfreesboro City Schools, and Rutherford County Schools.
Jessica Johnson, ATLAS Liaison for Rutherford County Schools, shared the impact Hometown Huddle makes on students and families. “Last year, the ATLAS Program enrolled and assisted 1637 students. We send weekend food home each weekend and offer food boxes to our families during extended breaks. We averaged over 100 boxes of food delivered to families with over 200 given to our families during spring break. Our grant does not provide for food to be given over breaks or snacks. If not for Hometown Huddle, we would not have the food to provide for our students during fall break.”
This year, we want to help more students have access to meals during fall break. Items collected can be dropped off at a variety of collection sites in the community, available at yourlocaluw.org/hometownhuddle. You can help by purchasing the following items:
- Cereal/oatmeal - single-serve packs
- Hormel Compleats
- Fruit snacks
- Granola bars
- Juice boxes
- Microwavable mac and cheese
- Peanut butter
- Reusable water bottles
- Rice Krispy Treats/other individually packaged treats
- Individual Pop Tarts packs
- Jello and pudding cups
- Microwavable single-serve soup
- Tuna/Chicken packets
Director of Engagement and Volunteerism, Kara Carpenter shared how Hometown Huddle impacts the community, “Hometown Huddle is a great example of how your donations make a swift, direct impact on the students here in Rutherford and Cannon Counties. Your food donations go straight into bags that are given to our students who have been identified as food insecure by their school system. This year, our bags are being distributed to these students to take home with them for fall break.”
Our Hometown Huddle 2023 sponsors include Taylor Farms, Ascend Federal Credit Union, Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation, Murfreesboro Water Resources Department, Publix Super Markets and Publix Super Market Charities, Regions Bank, and Wilson Bank & Trust.
For more information about how you can support Hometown Huddle, visit, https://www.yourlocaluw.org/hometownhuddle.
