By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–As they have in years past, students at Union City Schools have reached out to the less fortunate and those in need in advance of the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons.
Students at Union City Schools donated more than 8,000 non-perishable food items to a pair of local charitable organizations to help feed the hungry and provide assistance to others during the upcoming holidays.
The Union City Jaycees and the Obion County Ministerial Association benefited from the efforts of UC students and faculty on all three school campuses.
Some of the food will be distributed at the annual Feeding of the 5,000 grocery giveaway Nov. 24 at the Obion County Fairgrounds, while Chimes for Charity will also benefit via its annual 86th annual food basket program. Those baskets will be delivered on Christmas Eve morning to the less fortunate.
More than 5,000 food items were collected by Union City Elementary School students, some of which came from the results of the PACER Test performed during physical education classes under the watchful eyes of teachers Bill Kail and Mason Storey.
Paula Houston’s second-grade classes won the award for most items donated at the school and will receive a special favor when in-person learning resumes after the Thanksgiving break.
Other class winners by grade include:
PreK – Kim Taylor
Kindergarten – Stephanie Sisco
First grade – Jennifer Durham
Third grade – Laura Nipp
Fourth grade – Kristy Jones
The sixth-grade class at Union City Middle School won a competition with the rest of the student body and earned a free dress code day in the project that was headed by the Beta Club and produced nearly 2,600 food items.
And the Key Club at UCHS was the cornerstone organization that contributed greatly to the overall total of the donations.
The Feeding of the 5,000 will distribute 1,500 bags of groceries to anyone in the community who has a need, while the purpose of the Soul Food Café – a byproduct of the Refuge Church — is to provide a traditional Thanksgiving meal to anyone who would benefit from the nourishment and fellowship with others.
The grocery giveaway is set for 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Nov. 24, while the traditional Thanksgiving meal will be served from 5:30 until 7 p.m. at the fairgrounds. In between, there will be a coat giveaway from 3-5.
All of the outreach events are free of charge.
