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City offers Park Theater deal for nonprofit groups
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Local nonprofits can earn $150 per performance for volunteering to work concessions for Park Theater events.

Local nonprofit organizations looking for a new fundraiser idea in 2016 should check out the city of McMinnville’s offer of $150.
“We are launching a new fundraiser for nonprofits at Park Theater,” said Kendra Foust, McMinnville Parks and Recreation program coordinator. “Instead of bringing in part-time people to work concessions and paying them, we’re offering to allow nonprofits to work concessions as a fundraiser for a month. We’ll give them $150 per performance.”
Concessions items are paid for by the city of McMinnville, while the organizations provide the labor using its members. If a show has two performances, even if those are on the same night, the organization will receive $150 per performance for a total of $300. If six performances are held during the month, members will earn $900 for their organization.
Organizations won’t be allowed to pick their month. Foust says it will be the luck of the draw.
“At this time, we don’t know how many nonprofit organizations will apply,” she said. “We don’t even know if we’ll get 12, but we want to be fair in assigning them their month. Our plan is to take those that apply and put their names in a drawing in order to determine which organization gets what month. If the fundraiser goes well this year, we’ll offer it again in 2017 and hold a new drawing.”
The offer is open to nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit refers to what the tax code classifies as a “charitable” or a 501(c)3 organization.
Nonprofit organizations interested in signing up for the fundraiser are asked to call Park Theater at 506-2787 (ARTS).

Local farm partnership brings fresh beef to Warren County Schools
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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