Hunt Ford Chrysler in Franklin and Simpson County Schools are working together to raise $24,000 for the district’s BackPack program, which sends children in need home each weekend during the school year with a backpack full of food.

According to Robin Hollingsworth, the district’s community education director, Amanda Thurman, Hunt Ford’s internet sales manager, approached the district with the idea.

This fundraising collaboration has not been attempted before, Hollingsworth said.

“This is the first annual, we hope,” she said.

The structure of the event was inspired by a Youtube video, which Hollingsworth said has since been removed, of a man on a street corner in a crowded city with a sign asking people to give up their lunch money so others could eat.

Similarly, the fundraising event, scheduled from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 16, will have the theme: “Donate your lunch money to help feed our kids in Simpson County,” Hollingsworth said.

“(Thurman) said, ‘I love it. We just have to work around the fact that we don’t have a busy corner in Franklin,’ “ she said.

Thurman was unavailable for comment.

The event will feature volunteers stationed at six tables in Franklin, two in the square and one at Hunt Ford, where community members can donate, Hollingsworth said, adding that the locations for the other tables haven’t been decided yet.

With the understanding that a town Franklin’s size might not have enough people willing to donate money to raise $24,000 in one day, Hollingsworth will be working in the days leading up to the event to get donations from local businesses.

During the district’s efforts to raise funds for the program each year, a board with a thermometer that gets more full as donations roll in is placed outside Franklin-Simpson High School, she said.

As part of its fundraising efforts, Hunt Ford will put up a board thanking groups that donate to the program, Hollingsworth said.

“As companies or organizations make donations, their names are going to appear on the board,” Hollingsworth said.

According to a news release about the event, 1,950 students in Simpson County qualify for free and reduced meals.

Hollingsworth said $24,000 will fund the BackPack program, which gives a backpack filled with food, such as ravioli, beef stew, cups of fruit and vegetables, breakfast bars and cereal, to 200 students each Friday.

Simpson County Schools’ BackPack program is funded entirely through community donations, Hollingsworth said.

The district introduced the BackPack program in 2008 and has managed to fund it each year through community donations, she said.

“Every year, the donations have just come in from individuals, organizations, churches, and they’ve funded it 100 percent,” she said.