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March 21, 2025

Where Every Family Matters

How You Can Give Back This Holiday Season

'Tis the season to see and give beyond our own backyard. Here are a selection of ways that you and your family can do that.

Ashley's Place
ashleysplace.net
Ashley's Place is named for an actual victim of child sexual abuse in Sumner County. Ashley's Place is dedicated to Ashley and all the victims of abuse throughout Sumner County who deserve a child friendly place to be interviewed and receive the therapy they so desperately need.

Children Are People, Inc.
childrenarepeopletn.org
CAP offers a safe haven for at-risk youth in grade kindergarten through high school. No matter what programs they choose, participants receive caring attention from positive role models who help them focus on possibilities, not limitations. At CAP, we are striving to pave the way for positive futures.

Gallatin CARES
gallatincares.org
Gallatin CARES grew out of the vision of the Gallatin Ministerial Alliance to create a centralized place where our local people in need could come for assistance. (In fact, the CARES acronym stands for Christian Association for the Relief of Economic Suffering.)

Habitat For Humanity of Sumner County
shopsumnerrestore.org

Portland Pay It Forward
portlandpayitforward.org
Portland Pay It Forward, of Portland TN, opened its doors in 2017 with a commitment to help those in our community who struggle with their most basic needs. What started as a simple food pantry has grown into something much bigger thanks to the great support of local residents and businesses. Today, in addition to providing over 250 meals every other week to families in need, they also provide hygiene productsbaby and elder care supplies, and host a Facebook page where residents can request and/or offer free items to each other.

Sumner County Food Bank
615-504-6182
The holiday season is the food bank's most strenuous time. Monetary donations can help purchase food from Second Harvest Food Bank to serve the hungry throughout the county.

Wreaths Across America
Wreathsacrossamerica.org
Each December on National Wreaths Across America Day, our mission to Remember, Honor and Teach is carried out by coordinating wreath-laying ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery, as well as at more than 1,600 additional locations in all 50 U.S. states, at sea and abroad. Help by sponsoring a veterans’ wreath at a cemetery near you, volunteering or donating to a local fundraising group.

United Way of Sumner County
unitedwaysumner.org/
The mission of United Way of Sumner County is to improve the quality of  life in Sumner County as a place to grow up, raise a family, work, achieve our dreams, and grow older.

About the Author

Michael Aldrich

Michael Aldrich is Nashville Parent's Managing Editor and a Middle Tennessee arts writer. He and his wife, Alison, are the proud parents of 4-year-old Ezra and baby Norah.