FCE Clubs Strengthen Tennessee Communities

UT Extension’s Family and Community Education clubs have spent generations serving communities across Tennessee.

PARIS, Tenn. (RFD News) — Across Tennessee, volunteers are supporting local government, charitable organizations and people of all ages through Family and Community Education, or FCE Clubs.

The groups partner with the University of Tennessee Extension and come together with a goal to learn and help their communities.

Tennessee is home to 150 FCE clubs and 1,800 members. Several counties have clubs that date back nearly a century. Originally known as Home Demonstration or Homemaker clubs, they focused on canning and food preservation.

Today, FCE clubs are still known for cooking and crafts, but members also support homeless outreach, shut-ins, food drives and animal shelters while raising money through community service projects.

UT Extension adopted the name Family and Community Education clubs in the early 1990s to reflect a broader focus on modern family needs and educational outreach.

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