Hendersonville, NC Feb. 13, 2023: Hosted by the Henderson County Education Foundation and 26 participating restaurants, the reimagined Food For Thought event held last month raised funds and awareness for food insecurities among Henderson County students when they are away from school.

Thanks to donations from all of the participating restaurants, the event also meant that gift cards for $50 each went to 26 lucky winners.

Food For Thought ran from Jan. 20-27th to raise awareness and provide support funding to address food insecurities among HCPS students when they are away from school.

“With all of the donations in hand and the gift card winners notified, the event raised just over $3,000 in one week,” said Peggy Marshall, Executive Director for the Henderson County Education Foundation.

Those funds will support HCPS feeding programs like the Backpack Meals program and Meals on the Bus. “In addition to the financial support that we can provide to HCPS to help feed students when they’re away from school, we were really pleased with the enthusiasm shown by the restaurants, the dining public, and area media,” she said.

For the last six years, the restaurant community has faithfully and generously supported the annual Food for Thought Campaign to support local public education. This was the first time that the event was streamlined to offer a chance to win dining gift cards to local participating restaurants in exchange for a small donation to the cause.

During the event, the public visited any one of the participating restaurants. Using a provided envelope at each restaurant, customers made a $5 donation or more to the Henderson County Education Foundation. Each donation entered them into a drawing to win a $50 gift card to the restaurant where they were dining.

“Even during the challenging times of the last nearly two years, our area restaurants have continued to serve and support the local economy in so many ways,” said Peggy Marshall, Executive Director. ”We see and truly value what these restaurants mean to the community.”

The 2023 participating restaurants in Food for Thought were:
Arabella Breakfast, Black Bear Coffee & Café, Blue Sky Café, Bold Rock Mills River Cidery, Breedloves Family Restaurant, A Day in the Country Café, Dry Falls Brewing, Dugout, Eggs Up Grill, HenDough Chicken & Donuts, Kingmaker’s Draft, Marino’s Pizza, Mezzaluna Brick Oven & Tap Room, Mike’s on Main, 305 Lounge & Eatery, Moe’s Original BBQ, Monte’s Sub Shop, Oklawaha Brewing Co, Pop’s Diner, Postero, Shine, Southern Appalachian Brewery, Three Chopt Sandwich Shoppe, West First Wood-Fired Pizza, White Duck Taco Shop, and Zen Hen Café.