Haywood Christian Ministries has announced its fourth annual Farm Fresh 5K on to be run at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 18.

The Farm Fresh 5K is a chance to come together as a community and make a difference. Runners will support local farmers, putting food on the tables of families in need while strengthening the local economy. 

The Community Table is in a small and unassuming brick building nestled between Sylva’s Municipal Drive and Poteet Park. It’s also a local lifeline. Every year, tens of thousands of community members visit the nonprofit — which since 1999 has envisioned a Jackson County in which no one “goes to bed hungry” — and are welcomed inside its doors. 

A weekend rally organized by Hands off Haywood commenced with the presentation of a $2,500 check to Haywood Christian Ministries in Waynesville, highlighting a direct link between protest activism and local hunger relief.

Hands off Haywood organizer Mary Ford told the crowd that demonstrators have faced insults and “more middle fingers since March than we have in our entire lives” while taking to the streets on a weekly basis earlier this year but said the group’s focus has remained on democracy and community support.

To the Editor:

Recently three Haywood County citizens long involved in issues of public concern met with Congressman Chuck Edwards at his office in Hendersonville. Issues focused on were SNAP, medical insurance, research cuts and the federal match for Medicaid payments to hospitals and nursing homes.

Waynesville resident Sam Wilds is blind, cannot work, uses her entire Social Security disability check for household bills, has approximately $50 left on her SNAP card for the month of October, and once it’s gone, it’s gone. 

To the Editor:

The Congress has to finalize the Big “Bad” Bill (for most of us) by Oct. 1 or face a government shutdown. This means Congress still has the rest of September to “fix” the worst parts of this bill if they want to before the final vote by Oct. 1. 

Accessorized with purple-rimmed glasses, dangly beaded earrings and a well-worn Café Du Monde apron, Denise Teague brings the humility and unwavering tenacity needed to sustain Clyde United Methodist Church’s community kitchen since the earliest days following Hurricane Helene.  

Like any parent or guardian, Katie Clubb wants to provide nutritious food for her grandchildren. Clubb, a Canton resident, said with rising grocery prices, SNAP benefits don’t adequately cover healthy options for anyone in her household. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture for fiscal year 2024 reported that the average person received $187.20 in SNAP — Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program — per participant, per month.

To the Editor:

Yesterday a small but dedicated group of resistors gathered on the corner of Dillard Road and Main Street, here in Highlands. We engaged in a silent protest in response to recent cuts in SNAP and Medicaid benefits in the Big Beautiful Bill passed by the House of Representatives.

For the second year in a row, Macon County Schools will request funding from county commissioners to bridge the gap in funding for free school meals for all K-12 students. But with data trending downward, it’s unclear whether the school system will be able to continue its free meal program for more than two more years.