In Sumner County, 560 children across 14 schools face a heartbreaking reality each weekend: without help, they may not know where their next meal is coming from.

That sobering truth was shared by representatives from the school district, local churches, and Feed Sumner during a Gallatin Chamber of Commerce luncheon — a moment that would spark something powerful inside Highpoint Health.

When Highpoint leaders attended the luncheon, they expected an informative afternoon. What they didn’t expect was to leave deeply moved — and ready to act.

“For many of us, hearing that so many of our neighbors — especially children — were unsure of where their next meal would come from was incredibly moving,” said Cari Lambrecht, Director of Marketing & Communications for Highpoint Health. “We knew we had to do something.”

They didn’t wait.

Highpoint Health launched “Highpoint Has Heart,” an employee-led food drive designed to directly support the Feed Sumner Backpack Program. The initial goal was ambitious: assemble 560 meal bags — one for every student the program serves weekly.

That number wasn’t random. It represented real children. Real weekends. Real needs.

“During the school day, these students can receive breakfast and lunch,” Lambrecht explained. “But on weekends, many of them would go without food if not for this program. Children can’t learn, grow, or thrive on an empty stomach.”

True to their organized, process-driven culture, Highpoint approached the food drive with the same precision and care they bring to patient care. These weren’t random pantry donations. Each bag was meticulously planned using detailed guidelines provided by Feed Sumner to ensure proper nutritional balance and shelf stability. Every bag was built to provide between 2,000 and 3,000 calories — enough to help sustain a student throughout the weekend.

“We wanted our teams to understand not just what to give, but why it mattered,” Lambrecht said. “The calorie goals, nutritional balance, and requirements were essential to ensuring these children had reliable, meaningful support.”

Then something remarkable happened.

The community didn’t just meet the goal — they crushed it.

As donations began pouring in, the energy across the hospital grew. What started as a friendly department competition quickly became a massive wave of generosity. Despite winter weather challenges that could have slowed momentum, staff members and physician practices rallied.

By the end of the month-long drive, the final count stunned even organizers: 1,167 completed food bags — more than double the original goal.

The standouts added even more heart to the story. The Wound Care team earned bragging rights for the best employee-to-bag ratio, while Physician Services delivered an incredible 250 bags on their own.

Behind the scenes, the generosity ran deep. One director quietly matched every donation his staff contributed. A physician made a significant personal donation that inspired an entire department to give additional monetary gifts, which were then converted into food. Across shifts, departments, and practices, people gave what they could — and many gave beyond that.

When it came time to assemble and deliver the bags, the visual impact was powerful. A massive wall of carefully packed bags lined the space, ready to head out to 14 local schools. Staff members spent more than an hour loading a box truck alongside Feed Sumner representatives, celebrating not just the number — but the mission.

The drive wrapped up on Wear Red Day, an awareness initiative from the American Heart Association focused on women’s heart health, making the moment even more meaningful.

“This food drive showed, once again, that kindness is truly part of our culture,” Lambrecht said. “It’s one of the reasons people choose to work here and why they choose to stay.”

In a world that often feels heavy with hard headlines, seeing a hospital staff come together to curate high-calorie, nutritionally balanced support for 560 children across 14 schools reminds us what community really looks like.

At Highpoint Health, “Highpoint Has Heart” isn’t just a campaign name.

It’s action. It’s generosity. It’s 1,167 bags of proof.

And it’s the true heart of Sumner County.