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Two Morristown-area businesses, one with ties to the West, made monetary and food donations to Food on Foot Thursday morning.

HealthStar Medical made donations of candy and eggs for the nonprofit’s upcoming Easter Basket giveaway coming up April 8. Brad Hall Fuel, who owns the former Coffman Oil/Ziptron Energy Company in Morristown, donated food and money through the Brad Hall Foundation for the Easter food boxes to be distributed the same day.

HealthStar Director of Physician Services Deanine Diamond explained that all of the donations from her company are from the company’s employees in the company’s Morristown and Newport locations, as well as other locations over the company’s six-county region.

“We have an employee advisory team that meets every other month,” she said. “Our employees come up with ideas to donate whatever is needed in the community, whether it be a monetary, food or Easter. We put (the message) out to our employees to bring in a donation. This year, we’ve been abundantly blessed with all of the donations brought in. “

Diamond said that foundations are picked from around the community for organizations and causes that need the donations.

“Food on Foot is one of the causes we like to donate to every year,” Diamond said. “Easter is one of our very fun holidays because everyone is very giving.”

HealthStar Physicians offers primary and specialty care services for patients from birth to geriatrics across East Tennessee and is known locally for their dedicated and highly trained physicians and other healthcare providers. The large medical group located across six counties is dedicated to delivering quality medical care to patients, including access to the latest technological advances in medical care.

As a newer company to the Lakeway Area, Brad Hall Fuel is based in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Founded in 1992, Hall Fuel serves customers located throughout the United States. Customers range from local family-owned businesses to multi-national Fortune 500 companies. Hall Fuel supplies branded and unbranded fuels and chemicals to a wide spectrum of retail, wholesale, commercial, agricultural, and government customers.

Teton Petroleum Transport Director of Safety and Health Raul Perez came from Utah to join Area Sales Representative Rick Jones in bringing food and a donation. Teton is a subsidiary of Hall Fuel.

“We are in 13 states, including Texas and Tennessee,” Perez said. “We haul fuel, diesel, gasoline and different industries, including hotels, gas stations and military bases. We have more than 200 employees nationally and are a main broker of fuel in the country.

Perez said that Hall Fuel is making the donation as a company-wide hunger challenge.

“The owner of the Brad Hall Companies served a church mission in Mexico,” Perez said. “The kids and his daughter, Sunny Parker, saw a need and they wanted to replicate where they saw the need in the states. They service local people in Idaho Falls through the ‘Good to Kids Foundation’. They donate medical services to them.”

Perez also said that the Food on Foot Donation is the beginning of the Brad Hall Foundation’s hunger efforts.

“We’ll challenge hunger, then do a monetary donation in the second quarter, do service in the community such as cleaning parks in the third quarter and we’ll to a Christmas for the needy in the fourth quarter.”

Jones learned about Food on Foot through Teton dispatcher Brandon Brabson, who lives in Grainger County.

“We knew that anything we could do to help them, we’d want to do it,” Jones said. “It’s good timing today. We plan on doing this each year.”

Perez said that each dollar raised will be matched by Hall Fuel, up to $50,000.

Meanwhile, Food on Foot Founder/President Carolyn Jarnagin said that in order for children to receive Easter baskets and families to receive Easter food baskets, both groups must register. The final day of registration is Saturday, April 1. Registration forms are available at each Saturday food giveaway day at Food on Foot at 1 Berkline Drive in Morristown. Hours are from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

“The registrations let us know how many baskets and food boxes have to be made,” Jarnagin said.

Advisor Dianne Addington has volunteered at Food on Foot for 10 years. She learned about the organization through Arrowhead Church.

“We helped with the ‘Sparkle Program,’” Addington said. “I had been in Tennessee for a year looking at different churches and found Arrowhead.”

Addington thought it was important for the people to know that their 100% donations go to Food on Foot.

“There are no administrative costs involved,” Addington said. “That means a lot to a lot of organizations that support 501(c)(3) companies. Every dollar Carolyn gets goes to the end result. That’s so unique to Tennessee Food on Foot. Being in the organization that I was in (before retiring), we supported a lot of 501(c)(3) organizations. It was great to have 89 cents of every dollar go to the end product. I thought it was amazing. This is 100%.

“When people donate to charities, they encourage their staff to donate to the charities,” she said. “They like to know that most of the money is going to the end result.”

Addington, who is a retired chief executive officer of a credit union, also reported that corporate giving to Food on Foot are down due to the recent events in the stock market and that individual giving is more important than ever.

“Businesses have foundations that support Food on Foot donated from the revenue they were earning on their investments,” Addington said. “Investments are down, so that means what they’re donating has really shrunk. That means the individual donors are super important.”

“It’s important that people know that we’re not getting the donations we once did,” Jarnagin said.

Former State Rep. Jerry Sexton provides the location for Food on Foot at no charge to Jarnagin, his sister.

Jarnagin told of a man who always registers an 89-year-old lady for an Easter basket because the still likes them after all these years.

“He signs up to get her a basket each year,” Jarnagin said. “That’s what’s it’s all about.”

To donate to Food on Foot, mail a check to P. O. Box 2129, Morristown, TN 37816. Call 865-566-5778