“Just like this time last year, CUD has come through to help people in need,” said Phillip Street, CEO of Greenhouse Ministries.

Consolidated Utility District (CUD) – the water utility for Rutherford County – recently held a holiday drive for canned goods and personal care items to benefit Greenhouse Ministries, a nonprofit social service organization in Murfreesboro.

When the effort started during the second week of November, CUD established an internal goal of raising 2,000 pounds of donations by December 6. Collection boxes were placed in each of the three buildings on CUD’s campus and at the utility’s K. Thomas Hutchinson Water Treatment Plant. The final tally was 2,494 pounds.

The drive had a competitive element as well. If CUD reached the 2,000-pound goal, all employees and staff would receive a doughnut breakfast. The facility with the highest number of pounds donated – in this case, the staff at the K. Thomas Hutchinson Water Treatment Plant – would be treated to a breakfast from Chick-Fil-A on December 16.

“In 2020, our employees and staff gathered just over 2,000 pounds of food and personal care items, so we chose 2,000 pounds as our goal for this year, too,” said Roger Goodson, General Manager of CUD. “This was completely an internal effort. This was our employees, staff, and Board members paying for all donations. I think we’re going to have a sizable order at Krispy Kreme and Chick-Fil-A.”

“This is a tremendous gift from CUD,” said Street. “There are so many people in Rutherford County who are suffering economically and need some assistance putting food on the table. These donations will help so many families.”

To keep a running total of the donations, CUD used scales to weigh the contents of the collection boxes. The overall donation nearly filled the entire cargo area of the truck from Greenhouse Ministries.

At Consolidated Utility District, our mission continues to be to provide safe drinking water for all residential, industrial, and governmental agencies, meeting and exceeding all federal and state standards at the lowest possible cost with high quality, efficiency, and integrity.