We Need You!

Rural Resources relies on volunteers to help us do what we do. At times we have lots of volunteers in our data base that we can call on when we need a couple of extra hands. At other times, the pool dwindles down a bit. People’s schedules change. They move. They develop new interests. We understand that and we appreciate the time and energy they have given us. But that means that we need to recruit new volunteers at times to fill their places. It’s that time again!

We need volunteers of all kinds and all abilities. Do you like to work in the garden? Are you experienced with livestock? Are you good with computer hardware or installing and troubleshooting software? Fixing fences? Can you stuff envelopes? Is art or cooking your thing? Would you like to beautify our farm or teach our youth? We always need someone to help our farm manager keep all the maintenance and repairs up to date. If you would like to be a part of our mission, we have a place for you!

We welcome groups, individuals, families, Tennessee Promise Students and those wanting to serve community service hours by helping out a worthy cause.

Volunteer Morgan Jones will graduate
from Tusculum College in May with a
  criminal justice degree and a minor in
 chemistry. 

In May, Morgan Jones, a volunteer who has been helping me with communications, will be graduating from Tusculum College. With a criminal justice degree and a minor in chemistry under her belt, she will then move on to graduate school for a master’s degree in forensic science. We are very proud of Morgan, who is a Bonner Leader Student and a member of the Criminal Justice Association. We will miss her!

With Morgan moving on to new adventures with chemistry and cadavers, I’m looking for people who might be interested in helping out with our communications. That could be anything from preparing mailouts or helping with photography and graphic design to writing blogs or doing data entry.

If you are interested in volunteering in any capacity, please contact Sharon, our volunteer coordinator, at Sharon@ruralresources.net. If you specifically want to help out with communications, please contact me at lorelei@ruralresources.net. You can also reach both of us at 423-636-8171.

She Loves to Give!

Amanda Combs has volunteered with
Rural Resources since 2010.

Rural Resources Volunteer Profile

Amanda Combs: She Loves to Give!

Now that we've told you a little about ourselves in last week's blog, we're going to highlight some of our volunteers from time to time. Rural Resources operates with a skeleton staff on a small budget comprised mainly of grants. We just couldn't do what we do without volunteers. In today's blog, you'll read about a hard working volunteer in our produce distribution program.

The program is a new partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank, pioneered by our Outreach Coordinator Rhonda Hensley. The partnership aims to overcome the transportation barrier that often prevents those in need of food assistance from accessing resources available in the community.

What Amanda Combs lacks in stature, she makes up for in heart. The first thing people usually notice about this pint-sized, 40-ish-year-old dynamo is her smile. What they usually remember after they part is her hearty hug.

Amanda first began volunteering with Rural Resources in 2010, but the connection goes back further. Rural Resources' Outreach Coordinator Rhonda Hensley met her several years before on the Mobile Farmer's Market route, a community outreach project that brought low-cost, fresh produce to low-income neighborhoods.

“She lived in public housing,” says Hensley. “Her kids were very small then. She would stop me every week. They looked forward to that every week, rain or shine or whatever. I watched her kids grow as we went along.”

As the relationship between Hensley and Combs grew, it became apparent that Combs had a heart for helping people.

“I finally asked her to help us with the parade one year,” says Hensley. “She helped us from morning until night time and she's been helping out ever since then. When we started doing this produce distribution, she was there from day one.”

Combs says she loves volunteering.

“Rural Resources is my family,” she says, adding, “I just think it's important that we keep doing (the food distribution) as long as we can, because it helps. People are happy to get that food. That might be the only thing they get that day.”

Amanda helping a food distribution
recipient bring her food home.

Combs has put in hundreds of hours of volunteer hours at Rural Resources, distributed thousands of pounds of food and often helps the frail and elderly get their food into their homes. She also knows where to find the people who need it.

“She knows where all the homeless people are,” says Hensley. “At the end of the route, if we have any food left over, I've learned to just listen to her and she'll take me places where that food needs to be.”

But food isn't all that Combs gives away.

“She will do anything you ask her to, but what she does best is give out love and hugs,” says Hensley. “Anybody, the homeless, drug addicts, she doesn't care. She just wants to love and feed them.”

Invite: Rural Resources' 7th Annual Incredible Corn Dinner

Get your tickets today before it's too late!

Ticket Sales:

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Local Food & Arts Festival 2016

We had a successful day on the farm for the Local Food & Arts Festival on June 25. We could not have done this without the Tennessee Arts Commission, United States Department of Agriculture's National Insitute of Food & Agriculture, all of our musicians, artists, sponsors, volunteers and staff.

We also owe a huge thank you to all who came to support the festival.

We hope you had a wonderful time here on the farm. 

To see what the festival was like, click here:

http://throughtheeyesofsamphotography.pass.us/local-food--arts-festival/

Spring cleaning with Boca Christian

THANK YOU 

BOCA RATON 

CHRISTIAN SCHOOL!

Sophomores travelling around the county performing random acts of kindness visited the farm on Tuesday. There were about 50 people buzzing around the farm helping us out with some Spring cleaning.

Tasks Accomplished

Stained the new pavilion

Tilled up soil for future gardens

Constructed a worm box 

Constructed a hoop house 

Transplanted strawberries 

Bagged leaves for teens in our program to use in their at-home gardens

Farm Volunteer Work Day

Rural Resources' 

Farm Volunteer Work Day

Staff and volunteers came together on Nov. 21 to get some much needed work done around the farm in preparation of winter. The City of Tusculum recently dropped off some disgarded leaves for us to use for various purposes around the farm.

During the volunteer work day, our pigs were showered with leaves. We use them for bedding.

Don't miss the next chance to volunteer at the Rural Resources farm. 

Be sure to check our events page frequently.

EVENTS PAGE