(MURFREESBORO) Habitat for Humanity's 13th Annual Cookin' To Build will fill the area around the historic Rutherford County courthouse with the smell of home-made chilli, soups, stew and gumbo starting at 11:00 o'clock Saturday morning, November 7th, and continuing until the afternoon.

Tickets are $20 and include a painted pottery bowl to take home, “all you can eat” from the food booths, free dessert and drinks and musical entertainment by Jodal Bravo. Tickets are available now at the Habitat ReStore, 850 Mercury Boulevard. You can also get them online at Eventbrite. For those who personally painted a bowl at the Pottery Place, you enter a half-hour before everyone else (10:30AM).

The money raised helps Rutherford County Area Habitat for Humanity to help build safe, energy-efficient and affordable homes for families.

This year’s event will adhere to Covid19 safety guidelines from the Rutherford County Health Department, including:

• Temperatures will be taken of staff and volunteers upon arrival.

• Staff, volunteers and cooking teams will wear masks. Cooking team members and volunteers will also wear gloves.

• Cooking tents will be spread out more than usual so there is greater social distancing.

• Attendees will pick up a painted bowl the day of the event, but they will not use them for the food. Cooking teams will fill disposable bowls and give attendees individually packaged spoons.

• Desserts will be individually wrapped.

• Protective shields will be at the ticket/money tent and around the painted bowl tents.

Cooking teams from organizations, groups, churches, schools and local businesses prepare the food for free, as a way to help support the Habitat for Humanity mission. Teams also vie for the Golden Bowl Award as attendees vote for their favorites. Previous winners include Site Hawk, Dani Amendola, The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Department, Mid South Bank, and Oakland Middle School.

One of the local Habitat's focuses this year is a new subdivision that is call Legacy Pointe. 

Executive Director Terri Shultz notes, "Habitat does not give houses away but instead helps families who earn 30-80 per cent of the area median income (AMI) buy a home through a low-interest mortgage, so they can build wealth equity and provide a better future for their family. Future Homeowners attend 30 hours of Financial Literacy and Homeowner Education and complete 300-400 hours of sweat equity. Habitat Homeowners are then equipped to sustain their home, manage their money and many move out of a cycle of poverty."

Applications for the 2021 Homeowner Class will be available February 1 – March 1 2021. Information is at http://www.rchfh.org/homeownership/

Sponsors for the 2020 Cookin To Build include Title Sponsor Nissan USA with  additional funding from Volunteer State Bank, Thompson Machinery/CAT, Redstone FCU, Atmos Energy, The Pottery Place, Knights of Columbus, Redeemer Classical Academy, Schneider Electric, Wilson Bank & Trust, Kroger, Heritage South, First Bank, Farmers Insurance and U.S. Bank. Sponsorships plus early ticket sales have already raised over $20,000 this year!