Empower UC Receives Anonymous Donation For Meals

An unanimous donor has supplied the Empower UC initiative with a years worth of meals for its weekly meetings.

The meetings are called circle meetings where families meet with their mentors to work on life goals and skills. Director Megan Spurgeon said several hundred meals are provided at the meetings each month.

“We are thrilled about that,” Spurgeon said. “It’s something that we had not expected, but it takes a lot of burden off of us in trying to recruit people to provide those meals. We’re very thankful for that donation. It just shows how special the Upper Cumberland is.”

Spurgeon said having a hot meal may seem simple, but it makes bringing in families and volunteers to the program more likely.

“Currently we meet at the Imagine Foundry,” Spurgeon said. “We come together for dinner. Then, we do kid’s programming where they are doing activities and lessons with each other and then we have curriculum that our families go through so that they can go through goal setting and life skills. The Circle Allies are volunteer mentors with a family’s life that helps with their goal setting and planning.”

Empower UC is a multi-million dollar grant funded pilot program facilitated through UCHRA. The goal is to combat poverty through a mentor-based program. Those volunteers work with individual families on career building, budgeting and more.