In 2020, a simple Facebook post by Sidney Church turned into an initiative called We Feed Weakley that was created to combat food insecurity during the holiday season in Weakley County, Tennessee. Church is a graduate student from Santa Fe, Tennessee, getting her masters in Higher Education Leadership.
The idea began from a profound concern for the families of Weakley County and a childhood memory. Growing up, Church would go to her local church with her mom, Gayla Church, to participate in the Feed My Sheep Ministry. Participating with her church started a love for helping others and led her to believe that “God had placed it heavy on my heart to help people during the Holiday season.”
We Feed Weakley begins with fundraising a month before Thanksgiving. The fundraising is done with social media posts, events, donations and competitions. This year, they held a fundraising event with Millie’s Sweet Treats and Eats. They also receive monetary donations from various civic organizations across the county. All the donations are used to purchase turkeys, any items they don’t receive enough of through gathering donations, and gift cards to E.W. James. Competitions are held for first-year initiative’s PEP groups as well as student groups. The Martin Rotary Club sponsors the prizes. This year they also added an Amazon Wish List in which over $500 in physical items have been purchased.
Since the start of We Feed Weakley, the fundraising has grown. In 2020, $2,000 was raised that provided 40 families with a Thanksgiving dinner. In 2021, $3,000 was raised and provided 60 families with a Thanksgiving dinner. This year, as of November 13, the fundraising surpassed $3,000.
Next in the process comes packaging. When it first started, Church and one friend packaged all the dinners on her apartment floor. In the second year, they partnered with Panhellenic Sororities on campus to have a ‘packing night’. They packed efficiently, packing all 60 boxes in an hour. They will look to host another event this year.
Finally, they distribute. Church tells how they go about the distribution. The Department of Children Services in Dresden, Tennessee, identifies families within the county that are in need. Families can come pick up their prepackaged kits from the department. They can then go to E.W. James to pick up their turkey and use their gift card to purchase any remaining items their family may want or need. If a family does not have transportation, the department will bring the dinner kit and turkey to them.
Students from UT Martin have gotten involved since the start of the initiative.
“Athletics, Greek Life, your everyday student organizations… People from so many different backgrounds come together because of one common interest: They want to help people,” Church says.
Church makes an impact on the people of Weakley County. Her impact is noticed by many.
“I remember an employee at the Department of Children’s Services looked at me and said, ‘I have worked here 25 years, and we have never had anyone do this before.’ I truly believe that because of our partnership with the department we are able to cater to families that may not be able to be helped by other community programs.”
Church is very passionate about what she does to help the community and hopes We Feed Weakley will become a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
To donate to We Feed Weakley: Venmo and Cashapp @SidneyBrooke99. For more information, contact Sidney Church at: sidbchur@ut.utm.edu.
