MADISON, Tenn. (WKRN) — It’s the season of giving, and that mindset was on full display Tuesday morning in Madison.
With help from a few community partners, a small Davidson County nonprofit provided 50 local families with Christmas gifts and dinners.
Madison-based “Impact Youth Outreach” has now spent five Christmas Eves giving back to families who need help during the holidays. Of course, they cannot do it alone.
“[Cracker Barrel] provided 50 heat-and-serve meals for them. The community’s important, and I don’t think there’s any family that should sacrifice making memories and celebrating together,” said Jessica Mancuso, Communications Manager for Cracker Barrel.
“We did all the shopping for this. It took over an hour to check out at Walmart,” said Joshua Smith with a laugh. Smith is the owner of Nashville’s The Standard restaurant.
Nearly $5,000 was donated for the gifts, much of which came courtesy of Smith’s business.
“We have other things that we give to other projects, this is just the best feeling one,” Smith told News 2.
“My dad always says that we love the ones that we serve. I think it’s always good to give before you get,” detailed Julia, Smith’s daughter. Julia was tasked with picking out the plethora of clothes that were bought for the families.
The families were specifically selected from Metro Nashville’s Public School System and ranged in size from two to eight members. On top of the hot meal, the families were also gifted new clothes and toys.
The event was originally a “passion project” for the founder of Impact Outreach, Robert Sherrill. For him, it’s personal.
“Coming from where I come from, you know, I’ve been to prison. I was an at-risk youth. I grew up with nothing,” Sherrill said. “I just remember waking up on Christmas day and not having nothing under the tree. And so that feeling is what led me to doing what I do every Christmas for those that are less unfortunate.”
“I think it’s just important that kids feel cherished, they feel loved. And I think the best way to do that is to show up for them,” he continued.
As an organization, Impact Youth Outreach is not even 10 years old. But by next Christmas, Sherrill has the grand plan to give back 50 times as much as this did this year.
“My desire is to feed the whole community, right? And I’m, realistically, looking at next year doing 2,500 families. 25,00 families,” he proclaimed.
If you’re interested in helping the non-profit, whether it be for next Christmas or for the other work they do in their community, click HERE.
