The United Way of Rutherford and Cannon Counties recently hosted its second annual Community Baby Shower to benefit families in Rutherford and Cannon counties. Over 8,000 items were collected and assembled into 300 bags by 81 volunteers at the Community Baby Shower Sort-a-Thon.

The baby bags were distributed to at-risk mothers and families on February 6th at United Way's Community Baby Shower, in partnership with the Rutherford County Health Department and Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital. With 235 attendees, individuals and families took advantage of educational workshops and resources from over 25 local nonprofit organizations. The Saint Thomas Mobile Health Unit was on-site providing free flu shots to the attendees as well as the Rutherford County Emergency Services providing free car seat safety checks.

Organizations, companies and individuals participated in the Sort-a-Thon and Community Baby Shower on February 6th at Patterson Park Community Center. Companies participating this year through private donations, in-kind gifts or volunteers included:

Alpha Delta Kappa Sorority, Bridgestone, City Auto, DoubleTree by Hilton, City of La Vergne, FirstBank, First Tennessee Bank, General Mills, Ingram Content Group, International Paper, Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation, Nashville News 2, Parks Realty, Patterson Park Community Center, Regions Bank, Rich's Products, Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce, Rutherford County Government, Rutherford County Health Department, Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital, Store Opening Solutions, Target, TriStar StoneCrest, UPS, Vi-Jon, and Walmart.

Sponsors for the event included City Auto, Regions Bank and Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital.

For more information about volunteering with United Way, visit www.unitedwayvolunteer.org.