LaVergne High School cadets offering free community meal this Saturday

December 6, 2016

By JAMES EVANS
Rutherford County Schools

Any and all residents of La Vergne are invited to bring their appetites and join students at LaVergne High School for a free community meal. 

JROTC cadets at the school are hosting the dinner, which will be held on Saturday, Dec. 10, from 5-7 p.m. in the LHS cafeteria. 

“We’re inviting families, friends and so forth in the community,” Lt. Col. (Ret.) Glenn Shirley said. “Our cadets are going to be cooking and serving those meals.”

The meal will consist of turkey, ham, dressing, corn, green beans, dessert and more, Shirley said. 

This year is the second time the cadets have held such an event. They first offered the meal last Christmas season, but because it was held the weekend after schools let out for winter break, the attendance was less than they had hoped, Shirley said. 

“We moved it up a week. Hopefully that will change and get some more people out,” Shirley explained. 

There are 194 students in the JROTC program at LaVergne. To raise money to cover the meals, the students have been holding “spare-change Fridays” throughout the school year. 

The goal this year is to serve 300 community members, Shirley said. LaVergne Middle School held a similar event at Thanksgiving, which is where the LaVergne High students got the idea for their community meal. 

PHOTO / SUBMITTED

LaVergne High School JROTC cadets prepare food for their first community meal, which was held in December 2015. The students are hosting another free community meal this Saturday (Dec. 10) from 5-7 p.m. at the school. The meal will include turkey, ham, dressing, sides and desserts.