Spring Hill High vandalism causes losses for The Well, Franklin company offers support

A Friday incident involving vandalism at Spring Hill High School left more than desks overturned and damaged school property, but caused many local families to be delayed getting weekend food assistance.

Among the items damaged during the incident were food donations set aside for The Well Outreach food pantry's Jet Pack program for students, who receive food assistance over the weekend. Around 40 bags were destroyed, according to Shelly Sassen, CEO of The Well.

"It appears that the bags that were brought for this week were opened up and destroyed; all of the food was destroyed," Sassen said. "These items are critical because it's not optional or extra food. It's the only food those students will have over the weekend."

The school had also been running a separate hygiene drive for The Well, in which all the items were also destroyed.

The high school was closed on Friday due to the incident involving numerous students and is being investigated by the Maury County Sheriff's Office. However, according to the district communications office, the school is now clean and ready for students on Monday.

Sassen said that while this was an unfortunate situation involving items for families in need, there is a silver lining in the form of generosity by Franklin company Design Conveyor Systems.

Upon hearing about the incident, the company volunteered to step in and pay for all items The Well had lost, which Sassen said she estimates to be about $1,000.

"They heard what had been done and wanted to make right on that for The Well because the students still need that food, and we still need to get it to them," Sassen said. "To have a local company step in to pay for those items is a blessing."

The Well will also be hosting a food drive at Spring Hill High School starting at 8 a.m. Saturday, which Sassen said will hopefully fill the void for families, who lost their weekly Jet Pack pick-ups.

"We are doing a mobile food drive and will be passing out 25,000 pounds of food," Sassen said. "Hopefully, we can support some of those families who would have gotten Jet Packs to still have food relief this weekend."

Sassen added that, though this incident resulted in a loss for many families, The Well continues to maintain a strong relationship with Spring Hill High School by allowing programs like Jet Packs provide food and more to students who need it most.

Sassen recently shared that the need in Maury County Public Schools and Williamson County Schools is great, and the JetPack program serves about 1,300 students in need every week. The Well recently expanded its services to Mt. Pleasant, opening a facility more than double the size of its Spring Hill location.

"It was a sad event, and I hate that we got mixed up in it, but we are thankful to partner with Spring Hill High School," Sassen said. "The administration has always been very good to The Well in letting us have our mobile food pantry there. It'll all work out, because I know this is a hard thing for them as well."

Jay Powell is a general reporter for The Daily Herald. Get up-to-date news in your inbox by subscribing to The Daily Herald newsletter at www.ColumbiaDailyHerald.com.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: Spring Hill vandalism ruins The Well donations, Franklin company helps