Friday was National Schools Principals’ Day, but some of Cullman County’s administrators spent their day working to recognize other members of their community. 

Several principals and administrators gathered at the Cullman County School System’s central office to grill hamburgers and hot dogs and prepare 440 bagged lunches for Cullman Regional staff members Friday morning. 

Cullman County Schools Superintendent Shane Barnette said the county’s principals were discussing ways to give back to the community during a meeting earlier this week, and they began reaching out to their schools’ vendors to donate supplies that would be used to provide some support for the hospital’s staff.

“We all care about our healthcare workers,” he said. 

The Cullman County Cattlemen and Cattlewomen allowed the school system to use their grill to cook the meals, and the food and drinks came from local stores and restaurants including Hopper’s Family Market, Jack’s Foodland, S&S Foods, Warehouse Discount Grocery, Panera Bread and Coca-Cola.

Anything that wasn’t donated was paid for out-of-pocket by all of the administrators who helped organize the meals to show support for everyone who works at Cullman Regional and serves their community, Barnette said.

“We have students who go there all the time, and they’re serving our families,” he said. “We have a little bit of extra time and we want to do some serving ourselves.”

Fairview High School Principal Chris Gambrill was one of the principals who helped rally the community to provide the donations for the meals, and he said this was an opportunity for the county’s administrators to recognize the people who are going to work to do things that everyone can’t do, but are things that need to be done.

“It’s an honor for us to do this,” he said. “If it makes the day a little bit better for them, then it’s worth every minute of what we’re doing.”