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City has extra $2,500 it's looking to give away
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Lisa Hobbs
Updated: Dec 23, 2012, 11:13 PM
Published: Dec 23, 2012, 11:14 PM

Who will get $2,500 that McMinnville officials gave to a nonexistent program in the 2012-13 fiscal year budget? It is being held by the city, but could be up for grabs.
A program called Sunny Day Adult Daycare was offered by the McMinnville-Warren County Senior Center. This year, the center requested $2,500 in financial help from the city to run the program and it was awarded.
Senior Center director Cheryl Watson Mingle says the program officially ended Oct. 1 due to lack of participation.
“We had one person participating in the first quarter,” said Mingle. “We were in operation for the first quarter of the year, from July to September.”
With the program terminated prior to the actual transfer of money, the funds were withheld by the city and will not be given to the Senior Center.
“If a program ends prior to the money actually being given, it is retained by the city,” said city recorder Shirley Durham. “Because the money was given to that specific program and that program is no longer in existence, it can’t be given to the Senior Center.”
Requests have been made by other organizations for the funds, including the Children’s Advocacy Center and Familes in Crisis. However, Mingle believes the money should be given to the Senior Center.
“We should still get it,” said Mingle. “That was our program. I understand there are other organizations out there that do good things, but that money should go to the Senior Center and the seniors of Warren County.”
The Senior Center was given a city donation of $4,000, as well as $4,800 for its Warren County CARES program, in the 2012-13 city budget. Last year, the center served 1,500 seniors.
When questioned what the facility would do with $2,500, Mingle says it could be used to provide food for seniors.
“With $2,500, we could buy one 18-wheeler worth of food and give out food to about 400 seniors in Warren County,” Mingle said. “Can you think of a better way to spend that money than to feed up to 400 seniors for about a week?”
Mingle says the facility should at least get $625 of the money for the first quarter of the program.
“The program existed until Oct. 1,” she said. “We received federal funds and a county donation for the first quarter, so why shouldn’t we get at least that from the city? We should get $625 for the first quarter. We could use that money for the Senior Center.”
A change will be made to the way the Senior Center asks for donations in the future to help avoid instances like this one.
“From now on, we will ask for a donation to the Senior Center and not a specific program,” said Mingle. “We will include a list of everything we offer to seniors, but not have the donation dedicated to a specific program. That’s how other organizations do it.”
Finance Committee members will be discussing the situation on Dec. 27 at 6 p.m. on the third floor of city hall.
Local farm partnership brings fresh beef to Warren County Schools
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Published: Apr 2, 2025, 11:31 PM

Warren County Schools has beefed up lunch menus this school year through a new community partnership. Thanks to a collaboration between the district’s School Nutrition Department and Barton Creek Farms, students at Warren County High School, Warren County Middle School, West Elementary, Eastside Elementary, and Dibrell Elementary are enjoying locally sourced, farm-fresh beef in their lunches as part of a pilot program.

The initiative, spearheaded by Terri Mullican, Director of School Nutrition, has already shown great promise in its first few months. The partnership with Barton Creek Farms, located in Rock Island, Tennessee, ensures that the beef served is not only local to Warren County but of the highest quality. Barton Creek Farms specializes in farm-to-fork beef, with grass-fed and grain-finished cattle. Each calf is born and raised in Rock Island and goes through USDA-inspected processing, ensuring it meets the strictest safety and quality standards.

“When the opportunity arose to provide fresh, local beef, we knew it was a no-brainer,” Mullican said. “The fact that it’s a product from right here in our community makes it even more special. We can’t wait to implement it district-wide.”

Barton Creek Farms delivers fresh ground beef to the district monthly, and the nutrition

department incorporates it into homemade recipes such as lasagna, meatloaf, chili, and tacos.

As of now, the beef is being served at five schools, but the ultimate goal is to expand the program to all ten lunch-serving schools in the district.

The pilot program originated from a conversation between Mary Roller of Barton Creek Farms and Mullican. Roller, recognizing the farm’s potential to support local schools, reached out to gauge the district’s interest in serving local beef to students. Around the same time, a Warren County school board member contacted Mullican to share information about a similar partnership in neighboring Dekalb County, which helped push the initiative forward.

The timing worked in the district’s favor, as the nutrition department was able to fund the purchase of the beef using existing resources, eliminating the need for additional funding. Now that the pilot program is enjoying a successful run, the department has budgeted to extend the partnership district-wide for the 2025-26 school year.

Dr. Grant Swallows, Director of Schools, praised the program’s economic approach to student nutrition.

“This pilot is a perfect example of how we can use local resources to continue providing nutritious, healthy meals for our students,” he said. “We are grateful for partnerships like this one that benefit both our students and our local community. We always strive to support our local businesses when we can because our community is so good to us.”

In addition to working with Warren County Schools, Barton Creek Farms also partners with local restaurants to offer farm-fresh beef on their menus. The farm’s offerings include ground beef, steaks, roasts, and custom cuts by the quarter, half, or whole cow, meeting diverse consumer needs.

As the program continues to grow, the district hopes to expand its focus on farm-to-school meals, benefiting students’ health and connecting them to the agricultural roots of the community