By Tabitha Evans Moore | EDITOR & PUBLISHER

LYNCHBURG, Tenn. — It’s Saturday and local John LaCook is up to his thighs in Mulberry Creek water just in front of the Jack Daniel’s Visitor Center. He’s rubber duck wrangling for the Moore County Resource Center’s (MCRC) second annual Lucky Duck Race.

The third annual event will take place this Saturday (April 26) during Spring in the Hollow.

It’s a simple concept the MCRC launched two years ago. Locals purchase yellow rubber ducks with a number written on the bottom for $20 each. On the morning of Spring in the Hollow, event organizers release all 240 yellow rubber ducks into Mulberry Creek. Under John’s careful shepherding, they meander down the creek and the first one that crosses the finish line wins $350 and the last duck to hit the finish line gets $150. The remaining proceeds go to the MCRC to support local programs.

In 2023, the Moore County non-profit launched the race as a fundraiser for their annual back-to-school wellness event, the Backpacks for Kids Program. The program packs a backpack full of supplies – school supplies, snacks, hygiene items, new shoes – and distributes them to local students so that all Moore County kids start the school year off on a good foot. The Lynchburg Chamber and the Moore County Volunteer Fire Department coordinate the program.

“The community’s support was overwhelming, and we raised enough money to buy backpacks, school supplies, food, and hygiene products for over 80 children,” says Robyn LaCook, who spearheaded the MCRC’s efforts.

Providing basic human rights to ordinary people

The Resource Center quietly does the work of offering a safety net for local families and focuses on programs that provide essential needs. Their goal is to coordinate and provide aid to eliminate hunger, homelessness, and meet wellness needs locally.

“It is our purpose to provide one of the most important yet basic human rights to ordinary people during times of extraordinary hardship by trying to help them to secure the provision of food, hygiene products, clothing, educational supplies, utility assistance, and housing both temporary and permanent,” Robyn explains.

They do so with surprising success for an organization that is 100 percent funded by donations.

“The primary source of financial support is private donations collected during our fundraising events or via mail. The secondary source of financial support comes from partnership grants and corporate sponsorships,” Robyn explains. “We spend approximately 97 percent of funding on the services provided and three percent on administrative expenses (organizational fees, marketing, and supplies).

More need than you realize

Robyn says there’s more need inside Moore County that most people realize. They distribute around 85 food boxes each month in addition to utility assistance to more than 20 families. And that need is increasing. Robyn says that in the past six months, the number of families requesting assistance with food and utilities has increased by approximately 15 families per month.

The organization is also careful, especially with the programs that affect children, to make local families feel comfortable with the idea of needing a little extra help.

“During our Back-to-School Wellness event, we provide backpacks to each child. When organizing the event, I thought we could have a variety of colors and prints on the backpacks and allow the child to choose.  This simple decision impacted my team greatly,” Robyn explains. “During the event, we witnessed the excitement of the children as they realized they could choose for themselves. Many of them exclaimed that they have never been able to pick for themselves. Their excitement was just shy of the level of Christmas.”

Robyn says most people don’t realize that in today’s economy, even dual income households come in needing a little help.

“We never know what burdens each other carry until we walk a day in their life as many burdens are invisible to the general public,” Robyn says.

Looking for a sell out

If the Moore County Resource Center’s Lucky Duck Race sells out all 240 ducks, it will fully fund this year’s backpack event. According to John, they’ve currently sold around 50 ducks, but he says he’s got faith that the community will show up and support the event.

This year’s event will take place on Saturday, April 26 at 9 a.m. You do not need to be present to win, but the image of hundreds of bright yellow ducks floating along the Mulberry Creek is totally worth the price of admission. To purchase a duck, you can scan the Venmo QR Code in this article or look them up by their Venmo username – @mcrcrl. If you would prefer to donate by cash or check, you can reach out to them at 931-434-6808 or mail your donation to PO Box 15, Lynchburg, TN 37352.

In addition to monetary contribution, Robyn says the group also needs more volunteers.

“We need monthly volunteers for receiving, sorting, and packing food boxes. Help is also needed with event planning, setup, execution, and cleanup,” says Robyn. “Volunteers are required for office tasks, phone handling, participant enrollment, and service issuance. Additionally, we are accepting new board members.”

If you are a community member who needs assistance, they can help with the following items:

Food Assistance: They provide monthly perishable food boxes or boxes of non-perishable food coupled with a perishable voucher.

Utility Assistance: They provide applicants with bi-annual utility assistance direct payment for electric or water services.

Transportation Assistance: They provide applicants with a bi-annual fuel voucher for assistance with access to employment or health care appointments.

Homeless Emergency Packs: They partner with the Moore County Sheriff’s Department by providing them with backpacks filled with non-perishable single service food, hygiene packs, & socks/hat/gloves.

Emergency Response: They partner with the Moore County Volunteer Fire Department to aid affected community members during a residential fire by providing emergency food packs, clothing, hygiene packs, and temporary housing.

Natural Disaster Response: They partner with the Moore County Emergency Services to assist the community with emergency food packs, clothing, and hygiene packs.

Back to School Event: They hold an annual Back-to-School wellness event in the Lynchburg Park where we distribute food boxes, backpacks with school supplies, hygiene items, and clothing. Other area organizations participate representing health care, support care, and safety.

Christmas Stocking Stuffers: They host a Christmas Stocking Stuffers event where we distribute food boxes, household items, hygiene items, clothing, and toys.

For more information, check out their Facebook page by clicking here. •

{The Lynchburg Times is a nonpartisan, independent community newspaper serving Lynchburg, Tennessee and the surrounding counties. We are dedicated to public service journalism for the greater good of our community. You can support us, by clicking here.}