Tennessee Roots: An Evening of Community, Generosity & Hope
What an incredible night.
Our 2026 Helping Hands of Hickman County fundraiser dinner, “Tennessee Roots,” was a beautiful reminder of what can happen when a community comes together with one purpose: helping our neighbors and investing in the future of Helping Hands.
Set against the beautiful backdrop of Many Branches Ranch, the evening was filled with music, laughter, wonderful food, spirited auctions, and—most importantly—extraordinary generosity.
Guests enjoyed music by Highway Mission’s Band and a delicious meal provided by Purdie’s Catering & Events and Colton’s Steak House & Grill. Our talented emcee, Chris Clark, guided us through the evening with humor and heart, while auctioneer Truman Borntrager kept the energy high during our Pie Auction and Silent Auction.
Kelsie Taylor brought even more fun to the evening with a lively TikTok auction featuring Tennessee Roots creations from talented local artists, and we were especially honored to have actress and internationally award-winning mixed-media fine artist Gina Jackson generously share her artwork in support of Helping Hands.
We are deeply grateful to Karen Fox of Local Thread Media Photography, who continues to share her beautiful work with Helping Hands and captured so many special moments from the evening. We also thank Mary Bell’s Nursery for the lovely plants that helped bring our Tennessee Roots theme to life.
And then there are the many people whose work happened before the first guest arrived and continued long after the evening ended.
To our Helping Hands staff, Board members, servers, volunteers, pie bakers, donors, local businesses, and friends: thank you. Whether you greeted guests, set tables, served meals, parked cars, organized auction items, transported donations, cleaned up, baked a pie, donated a service, created something beautiful, or simply stepped in wherever you were needed—you made this night possible.
Most of all, we are overwhelmed by the generosity of every sponsor and every person who joined us.
Together, you helped us raise more than $27,000 toward the foundation of our new showroom.
That number represents far more than dollars raised. It represents people believing in the mission of Helping Hands. It represents a community choosing to invest in its neighbors. And it brings us another step closer to creating a space that will allow us to serve Hickman County even better in the years ahead.
There is still a long road before us, but nights like this remind us that we are not walking it alone.
Our roots run deep here. They are rooted in service, generosity, compassion, and community—and because of all of you, Helping Hands continues to grow.
From Jeanne Beasley, our Board of Directors, our staff, and the entire Helping Hands team:
Thank you for believing in this mission. Thank you for showing up. And thank you for making Tennessee Roots a night we will never forget.
With deepest gratitude,
Helping Hands of Hickman County
