The 2024 United We Feed Drive made an incredible impact thanks to YOU!
Together, we collected 2,140 canned goods and non-perishable items valued at over $2,000. These vital donations were distributed to 11 incredible UWSC Partner Agencies serving our hungry neighbors right here in Sumner County: CASA, Children are People, Community Child Care in Hendersonville, Cumberland Crisis Pregnancy Center, Gallatin CARES, Gallatin Daycare, Gallatin Senior Citizens Center, Gallatin Shalom Zone, Portland Senior Citizens, Unlimited Potential, and Westmoreland Amazing Grace Mission.
This success wouldn’t have been possible without the support of our amazing community. A total of 23 volunteers gave their time and energy to sort, pack, and distribute these items, ensuring every donation made a difference. We also want to extend heartfelt gratitude to the volunteer committee that worked closely with our staff to solicit collection sites, plan the event, and make this drive a reality: Pat Conner, Theresa Dowell-Fuqua, Pat Gizelar, Gail Haygood, Debbie Sheets, Cheri Tatum, and Amanda Williams.
A special thank-you goes to the 25 companies across 31 locations who served as public drop-off donation sites, including: Allstate Insurance (Melissa French), Brite Spot Cleaning at The Collab, Charter Senior Living, Compass Pediatrics, Elevate50, Gallatin Chamber of Commerce, Gallatin City Hall, Gallatin Civic Center, Gallatin Public Library, Half Batch Brewing, Orange Theory Fitness in Hendersonville, Panera Bread in Hendersonville, Portland Chamber of Commerce, Portland City Hall, Publix Windsong in Gallatin, Red Cedar Glen, Red Tulip, Regions Bank (4 locations), Sumner County Administration Building, Sumner County Schools Central Office, The Farmers Bank (4 locations), Westmoreland City Hall, Westmoreland Senior Citizens Center, White House Chamber of Commerce, and White House Public Library. Your visible commitment helped ensure our community had accessible ways to give.
We’re also incredibly grateful to the 9 companies who conducted internal collection drives amongst their employees, clients, and customers. These companies include Aladdin Temp-Rite; Children's First Preschool at First United Methodist Church in Hendersonville; Costco; First United Methodist Church of Hendersonville; ITW Dynatec; League of Women Voters in Hendersonville/Sumner; McMurray, Fox & Associates; PIC North America; and TriStar Hendersonville Medical Center.
All in all, we were amazed to see a total of 41 locations (including our UWSC office) in Gallatin, Goodlettsville, Hendersonville, Portland, Westmoreland, and White House collecting for this year's drive! Your support demonstrates the incredible power of local businesses and organizations coming together to create positive change.
This year, we also added a special component to the drive, featuring artwork by Patience Kang, a talented young artist and student at United Way Agency, Gallatin Shalom Zone. Patience designed a coloring page to promote the drive, and participants in programs at Gallatin Shalom Zone, Children Are People, Inc., and Community Child Care Services, Inc. of Hendersonville brought the artwork to life by coloring pages that adorned donation boxes across the county. To thank these young volunteers, we hosted a special celebration at the Gallatin Public Library, where we recognized their contributions and encouraged them to continue spreading kindness in their community.
To everyone who donated—thank you for proving that United is the Way We Feed. This drive was an inspiring way for our community to give back and get involved, showing the true impact we can make when we work together.
Click here to see our full Facebook event photo album and here to see the Facebook photo album involving the youth volunteers who participated.