Fentress County non-profit Community House hosting a first Farm to Table dinner Tuesday.
Community House Executive Director Rachelle Kerr said the meal will be made from locally sourced ingredients. Kerr said proceeds from the meal will go toward the non-profit’s goal of having a working farm for participants to live on.
“It seems so fitting that we live in the Upper Cumberland and have all of these beautiful farms,” Kerr said. “And so many doing organic farming and grass fed beef. And you know, all of the things that we are loving right now. It seemed the perfect marriage.”
The Community House Farm to Table Fundraiser Dinner will be Tuesday at 6 pm at the Burnett Family Farm. Kerr said the dinner will be fine dining but in a casual atmosphere with live music, dancing, and more.
Kerr said several local farms will be provide meat and produce. The three course meal will be prepared by local chefs. Kerr said in future years when the Community House grows, she would like to see some of their products used in the dinner.
“It was very important to me that all of the money would be blessing our local people,” Kerr said. “So when people buy a ticket, when sponsors are sponsoring, that money is literally staying here. And a lot of our producers are donating, and that’s beautiful.”
Kerr said that she wanted to make sure all of the money spent on the dinner stayed in the Upper Cumberland because spending it elsewhere defeats the fundraiser’s purpose.
Kerr said the fundraiser came about in casual conversations with the Chamber of Commerce. When Kerr said she was interested in making a farm to table dinner the non-profit’s annual fundraiser, she found out the Chamber had also entertained the idea.
[Jacob Rosenbaum and Seth Vaughn] both, as we set down to several meetings said, ‘It is imperative for all the funds to funnel back to the Community House,’” Kerr said. “‘So we’re going to sponsor this event, but we want the Community House to receive all of the proceeds.’ So yes, the Chamber of Commerce has been a very active part of this. They’re also incredible at just assisting when we need a little extra help with something.”
Kerr said people from the Community House will be working during the fundraiser. She said volunteers from the Refresh and Restore outreach will serve food and drink alongside members of the board of directors.
The Community House is a Fentress County non-profit meant to address a need for housing since there are no shelters in the area. Kerr said this paired with an influx of homeless helped craft the desire to invest in people through conversation and help them get back on track.