It may have rained out the last Food Truck Rodeo in Hope Mills, but the rescheduled event this Thursday at 5 p.m. behind the recreation center on Rockfish Road is going to give people a chance to help out children about to return to school.It may have rained out the last Food Truck Rodeo in Hope Mills, but the rescheduled event this Thursday at 5 p.m. behind the recreation center on Rockfish Road is going to give people a chance to help out children about to return to school.
Chancer McLaughlin, development and planning administrator for the town of Hope Mills, said he realized the later date would push the rodeo closer to the scheduled opening of school. This led to the town using the Food Truck Rodeo as an opportunity to collect school supplies for youngsters.
The Food Truck Rodeo already collects donations of food for the Hope Mills ALMS HOUSE, which has a mission of feeding the hungry, clothing the needy and providing counseling and financial assistance.
Now, this week’s rodeo is collecting goods for the upcoming FAYONE event, which is helping to provide school supplies to Cumberland County students.
McLaughlin said FAYONE is a cooperative effort between a number of other groups that were providing school supplies to youngsters.
The FAYONE organizers joined their efforts to offer one large event.FAYONE is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 18, at the Crown Arena beginning at 10 a.m.
It will feature two events, Gotcha’Back and Cut My City.Gotcha’Back provides backpacks filled with school supplies for needy children, while Cut My City offers free haircuts.To get a free haircut, students must be at the Crown Arena and registered by 2 p.m. the day of the event.
McLaughlin said when he realized the Food Truck Rodeo was going to have to be postponed, he contacted Hope Mills town manager Melissa Adams to see about adding collecting school supplies to the rodeo.
All supplies collected at the rodeo will in turn be donated to FAYONE to be given away this Saturday.
“I feel as a municipality we have a bigger reach and we can be bigger leaders,’’ McLaughlin said. “We want to support a communitywide back-to-school drive as well. We’re telling residents of Hope Mills to bring school supplies when they come to the food drive.’’
Any school supplies are welcome, but McLaughlin said the top choices for people to bring are wire composition books, pens, pocket folders, rulers, pencils and notebook paper.
Another feature of the FAYONE event will be a separate area in the Crown Arena called the Teachers Lounge. “We’ll have things for them and supplies we’ll donate to the schools,’’ McLaughlin said.
If there is anyone who is interested in volunteering to help out at FAYONE this Saturday, they can email fayeone2018@gmail.com.
In addition to the usual food trucks, because the Thursday rodeo is focused on back-to-school, McLaughlin said Hope Mills will offer a bouncy house, cornhole games, face painting, karaoke and a dance-off for the children.
There will also be raffles held for various prizes.
The town will also conduct its usual solicitation for donations of food to the Hope Mills ALMS HOUSE.
Preferred food donations for the ALMS HOUSE include bottled water, single-serve boxes of cereal, ramen noodles, individual microwaveable servings of pasta and gallon-size freezer bags.