It has been said that happiness has no price tag, but the Sewanee Civic Association (SCA) continues to put a dollar amount on their goal of improving the quality of life for all residents of the Cumberland Plateau. The Sewanee Community Chest supports local organizations that have requested basic needs funding for quality of life, community aid, children’s programs, and those beyond Sewanee that serve the entire community. With the entire community’s support, Community Chest funding will continue to provide aid where it matters most: elder care, food, books, housing, scholarships, spay/neuter programs for animals, recreational spaces and funding for the local elementary school.
“The amount of money requested this year, $160,300, shows that the need to support local organizations and initiatives is great,” said SCA president Theresa Shackelford.
Since 1943, the SCA has organized the Sewanee Community Chest, which raised needed funds the town could not raise in taxes because it was unincorporated, in order to make municipal improvements. In the last decade, the Community Chest has provided more than $1 million to organizations in Franklin, Marion and Grundy counties. Past recipients of Sewanee Community Chest funds include the Mountain Goat Trail Alliance, the Sewanee Elementary School Parent Organization, Sewanee’s Fourth of July Celebration, and South Cumberland Farmers’ Market, among many others.
The 29 nonprofits seeking funding this year include many Plateau mainstays, as well as several newer organizations. The Reach Out and Read program at Sewanee Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, launched in 2016, provides infants, toddlers and preschoolers with new books and early literacy guidance during well-child visits. The program has requested a Sewanee Community Chest grant in 2018-19 to cover their book costs for the year ahead.
Blue Monarch, a residential recovery program located in Monteagle, has benefited from Sewanee Community Chest grants for multiple years. Blue Monarch staff member Deanna Barnes shared that last year’s grant enabled the nonprofit to conduct key outreach, including their Parenting Sober Program and GED tutoring.
The Sewanee Community Chest encourages all of you who benefit from life in the community to give generously. The Sewanee Community Chest is a 501(c)(3) organization. Donations can be made by payroll deductions, credit, debit, or PayPal, either one-time or recurring. Checks may be mailed to Sewanee Community Chest, P.O. Box 99, Sewanee, TN 37375. For more information, go to www.sewaneecivic.org.